Last Saturday’s much-needed win over the Bulls has very quickly changed the complexion of the Sharks’ play-off prospects, but assistant coach Paul Anthony has emphasised that they cannot afford to lose focus ahead of this weekend’s Currie Cup encounter against the Kings.
The unheralded Kings have yet to register a victory since their inclusion in the Currie Cup, with Carlos Spencer still searching for that elusive maiden victory as the coach of a new-look side that has been without influential skipper Luke Watson for the majority of their campaign.
Nevertheless, Anthony insisted that the team from Port Elizabeth could be a dangerous proposition should they get it right on the day.
“The Kings will be a difficult team to face because they have nothing to lose, they can play as they want, and with quite a bit of freedom. There won’t be any pressure on them, so we need to settle down quickly, focus, and go hard at them.”
Yet despite the fact that the Currie Cup newcomers have been relatively competitive this season, the Sharks will also know that this Saturday’s fixture in Durban should present an opportunity for them to target a bonus-point win, and keep up the pressure on the table-topping Lions and Western Province.
The third-placed Sharks are still nine log points behind Western Province, but they are only five points adrift of the second-placed Lions, a team that they will face at King’s Park next weekend.
After that match, the Durban side will complete their pool commitments against Province, so there is certainly still plenty to play out before the end of the competition’s league phase.
“For us at the moment, there is no breathing space,” Anthony commented. “We really need to just keep winning. We will need to perform well once again this weekend, we have to man up defensively, and ensure we don’t look one step further than the EP Kings.”
Over the last couple of weeks, the Sharks have been on an upward curve, and their second half performance against the Bulls was arguably the best rugby they have produced so far this season.
Anthony said the result and overall performance had been a timely morale-boost for the team.
“It will do wonders for the confidence of the players, for everybody, to win a big game like that, away from home. It was huge. The main thing now is to build on that confidence, but also to keep our feet on the ground and turn our attention to the next challenge. Over the last few weeks, we’ve definitely shown an improvement, and now we need to just keep going in that direction.”
On the injury front, Jacques Botes (SC joint sprain), Stephan Lewies (chronic knee problem) and Conrad Hoffmann (buttock muscle strain) will all need to come through fitness tests this week, while Thomas du Toit (toe injury) is unlikely to be available. - Daily News