Durban – It is not quite a case of “here comes the cavalry” but the presence of Francois Steyn and JP Pietersen at training at Kings Park would have been a timely restorative for the Sharks after the morale-sapping defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria at the weekend.
The Sharks have to overcome the disappointment of the manner in which they lost to the Bulls after some dubious decisions by the officials, and the return from Japan of two key Springboks, plus the return to full fitness of Willem Alberts, has done no harm as the focus switches to Saturday’s visit to the unbeaten Stormers.
Steyn and Pietersen appear to be in sprightly physical condition, which is not always the case of players accustomed to loafing in the Land of the Rising Sun. Steyn, in particular, looks slim and trim and eager to replicate his fine form of 2014 when he was forced into playing much of the campaign at flyhalf because of the injury to Patrick Lambie.
The latter was at a Springbok training camp yesterday, along with the Sharks’ other Boks, but that did not stop the balance of the squad from training with serious intent after the coaching staff had registered dissatisfaction with energy levels in the 43-35 defeat at Loftus Versfeld.
Bok flank Alberts is looking good to go for his first action of the year and further good news is that Tendai Mtawarira is recovering quicker than expected from a calf injury.
“Beast is looking really good and his rehab has come along nicely. Willem has been training for two and half weeks full steam – so yes I think we’re in a fortunate situation with our growing depth,” said assistant coach Michael Horak.
“We should be able to select a strong line-up for this weekend.
The exception is rugged flank Jean Deysel, who was a casualty of the trip to Pretoria. He has injured a bone in his foot and is on crutches. - Cape Times