The Sharks are the last team that need reminding that anything and everything can happen in the Currie Cup this season.
And it is for this reason that they have not given up hope of sneaking a home semi-final – by beating Western Province as the competition heads into the final pool round this weekend.
The Sharks have been among the worst culprits when it comes to losing games they should win and winning games they might have been expected to lose.
But there have been upsets across the board with only Western Province maintaining consistent form.
The Sharks, for instance, lost to Griquas at home, but beat the Bulls away, and lost to the Pumas who were given a hiding by the Pretoria team at the weekend.
It has been a unique campaign for the Sharks in that they had to start from scratch with a new team, which would explain their patchy form in the first half of the competition.
But they have blossomed under the guidance of coaches Brad Macleod-Henderson, Sean Everitt and Paul Anthony in the latter stages of the competition and have gone four games unbeaten, giving themselves a realistic chance of beating favourites Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.
“The nature of this competition is that anyone can beat anyone else,” Anthony said.
“And that’s why we are so enthusiastic about going to Cape Town and grabbing a win. The next thing, the Cheetahs beat the Lions in the final game of the pool stages and we’re looking at a home semi. Going into the final round, there is everything to play for, and that is what makes it so exciting.”
There is talk in Cape Town that Province might rest players for this match given that they are already assured of topping the table, even if they lose to the Sharks.
“They’ve earned that right to decide what they want to do, but we’re going there to win,” Anthony said.
“The one thing about Province is that they’re not beaten until they’re beaten.
“They have the incredible ability to exploit errors.
“If you look at their tries, they exploit their opportunities really effectively. They have very intelligent players so we can leave no preparation untouched.”
The Sharks must keep improving on their set-piece play, which has been patchy, and with their backs so full of running, they want the best platform possible.
“We have to go there and get our set-piece functioning efficiently because we weren’t on top of our game in that aspect against the Lions,” Antony said.
“I think our scrummaging has improved. It’s not where we’d like it to be, but we are working hard and I’m confident we will do well at Newlands.
“We also want to improve our line-outs,” he said.
“We slipped up there a bit, but we know where we went wrong and we’ve addressed that. We want to get our set-piece to a point where both our line-out and scrum are really good, while we keep working on our defence.”
Anthony said the win over the in-form Lions had been the ideal boost for the big visit to Newlands.
“The Lions are a top side, and beating them has helped with our momentum,” he said.
“The win against the Bulls, away, was also massive for us. Then we had a good game against the EP Kings, and now the win against Lions. We are playing the tough part of the tournament now, so to come through and beat two teams that people expected us to battle against, is huge for us.
“It also softens the blow of having lost to teams we never thought we would lose to (Pumas, Griquas).
Anthony said the big strength of the log leaders is their ability to mix defence and attack.
“Province are not number one on the log for nothing,” he said.
“They’re attacking well from turnovers, while remaining defensively astute. Their players are intelligent and they capitalise very effectively on turnovers.
“They make the right choices and take the right options – counter-attacking has been their strength.
“They have a good eye for where to launch their attacks from and they have lots of speed out wide, not only on the wings, but at fullback and centre. And that’s why they can hit you so effectively.
“Your defensive lines have to be outstanding and you have to cut down all areas that give up turn-overs, you can’t afford to concede turn-over ball.”
l Centre Paul Jordaan suffered a hip dislocation against the Lions at the weekend and will be sidelined for six months, while hooker Kyle Cooper is out of the visit to Newlands because of an ankle injury, but will be available for next week’s semi-finals. - The Mercury