Sharks out to restore fear in the Tank

IN WHAT seems like another era, Griquas came to Durban two decades ago and won a Currie Cup match against a Sharks side stacked with stars.

Griquas were coached by Andre Markgraaff, and flyhalf Gaffie du Toit destroyed the home team.

In response, the Sharks promptly recruited half of the Griquas team, the likes of Springboks Du Toit, Dave von Hoesslin, Philip Smit and Gideon Watts.

That victory against the odds arguably remains Griquas’ proudest Currie Cup moment, and while they will fancy their chances tonight of repeating that historic success, they will almost certainly flounder against a 2016 Sharks side that is short on stars but big on hunger.

Under new coach Robert du Preez, the Sharks have been tasked with restoring Kings Park to the fortress of old, and there is no chance of Keegan Daniel’s team underestimating the Kimberley outfit.

Daniel, at 31, is the only Shark over the age of 30 (injured Odwa Ndungane is just about the only other veteran in the squad), and Du Preez and director of rugby Gary Gold are clearly bent on regenerating the Sharks.

Complacency will hardly be a factor.

“We really need to make Kings Park the fortress it used to be,” Du Preez said. “We want this to be a venue that opposition teams fear.”

The Sharks go into this match after a positive start to the Currie Cup against the Pumas in Nelspruit last week.

The Durban side was full of running and with a touch more fortune, the winning margin

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Neil Maritz, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 S’bura Sithole, 10 Inny Radebe, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Keegan Daniel (c), 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Dale Chadwick. 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 John-Hubert Meyer, 18 Ruan Botha, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Heimar Williams/Odwa Ndungane, 22 Rhyno Smith.

15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Ederies

of 33-10 could have been more.

“We are on track but we cannot be satisfied with that performance,” Du Preez said.

“We played some nice