Durban – Ongoing concussion concerns over Sharks captain Patrick Lambie are increasingly suggesting that it will be stand-in skipper Tendai Mtawarira leading the visitors at Ellis Park on Saturday, and the Beast warns that the Lions will have to scrap ‘for every inch’.
The 30-year-old has been a fixture in the Sharks team for 10 years since his debut in 2006, and he says this week’s Super Rugby encounter against the form South African team stirs the butterflies as if it was his first game.
“A big game like this is why you love playing rugby for a living,” said the veteran of 78 Tests for the Springboks.
“We quite rightly have the underdog tag this week, and that makes it easy to motivate this Sharks team. We will fight hard to win every inch.”
“We will be brave, but we won’t be reckless,” he added. “We are not going to play a game that could see them getting ahead on the scoreboard. We don’t want that pressure. We want to play in the right areas of the field and it will be our physicality that will win or lose us this game.
“We must get on top of them and then attack ruthlessly.”
It would seem that the Lions have everything in their favour. They had eight players recently playing for the Springboks (to the three of the Sharks), they are at home and they were playing brilliant rugby going into the break for the June internationals.
There is also the significant psychological edge the Lions will enjoy after thrashing the Sharks 24-9 at Kings Park two months ago in a game the Sharks had labelled a ‘must-win’. This match is no different as a loss will severely damage the Shark's play-off ambitions. - The Star