In a week when so much of the Sharks’ build-up to the Super Rugby clash against the Western Force has been overshadowed by off-field challenges, attention will finally shift to the rugby in what remains a crucial encounter in the context of their season.
The Sharks have had to adjust in the absence of suspended captain Bismarck du Plessis, while also settling on a new leader and the best combinations considering that Pat Lambie, Marcell Coetzee and Cobus Reinach have had to be rested.
In addition, the question mark over the availability of Frans Steyn was finally erased on Thursday when the appeal hearing into his red card acquittal was postponed, and, although the Sharks have prepared all week as if he would be playing, the off-field Sanzar shenanigans were an unfortunate sideshow.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt the Sharks’ playing group will have remained largely removed from these off-field matters, and their only focus will now be on securing a third successive win.
In the mayhem of last weekend’s clash against the Chiefs, it almost went unnoticed that the Sharks closed the gap on South African conference leaders, the Stormers, to just one point.
Although the Stormers have a game in hand, the Cape side have now begun their challenging overseas tour, and so the opportunity remains for the Sharks to re-assert their claim for conference honours in the coming weeks.
In that context, the Sharks can ill-afford to slip up against the Force tonight, regardless of the fact their squad has been depleted. Indeed, it’s still a quality Sharks side – a point noted by Western Force coach Michael Foley yesterday.
The South African teams have great depth, there are a lot of players playing overseas. It’s a great rugby nursery, if you look at someone like Pat Lambie, he’s a fantastic player, but the Sharks are replacing him with someone like Frans Steyn, so the depth is fantastic, and it shouldn’t impact on their performance too much.”
The availability of Steyn was the big talking point this week, and his presence will be a major boost for the Sharks, with Foley admitting he still had some vivid memories of the versatile back.
“Frans is an incredibly experienced player, I was part of the Wallabies coaching team when he came onto the field and kicked two drop goals late in the game to win a Test match for the Springboks a number of years ago. He’s gained a lot of experience since then, he’s played in France and also a lot of international rugby. He’ll be well-versed on how to manage his preparation, and so I’m sure he’ll be ready for this one.”
While Steyn will be tasked with the responsibility of marshalling the backline, veteran lock Marco Wentzel has also stepped up into a vital role as the team’s line-out general, and last weekend he topped the competition stats with nine balls collected on the Sharks’ throw.
Furthermore, the 35-year-old continues to fulfill a crucial leadership role, and was in fact in line to take up the captaincy if Jean Deysel had failed to recover from injury in time.
“I don’t think it’s anything new for me. I’ve been blessed to be captain a few times in my life in other teams so nothing really changes for me (in terms of leadership),” he commented. “Obviously calling the line-outs is a big job, but one I’m comfortable with. Sometimes there’s a bit more pressure than usual because we have a few new players coming in for this game, but it’s going to be exciting to see some these guys get their chance.”
In the opposite camp, although the Western Force squad might not be filled with household names, they remain a well-drilled, dangerous team.
“They’re a bunch of very good rugby players and I think they showed that last weekend (against the Bulls),” Wentzel commented. “They are a dangerous side, they’re very well coached and they will throw something different at us. But it’s more important to stick to our structures.”
Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold shared similar sentiments.
“The Force are a very good team, quite typically Australian, and they have a very good coaching staff … they’ve always got great plans, they’re very well organised and they’re a team that want to carry the ball.
”They’re playing with a lot of intent and they’re very unlucky to be on a losing run at the moment.” - Saturday Star