Durban — The Sharks have to beat Benetton in Friday’s United Rugby Championship match to take a major step to qualify for the quarter-finals and director of rugby Neil Powell says the preparation has been tough because the team have only just got back from France.
The Sharks emptied the tank last Saturday against Toulouse and face an immediate turnaround in having to play a URC game against Benetton just six days later.
“This preparation has had to be about ensuring the guys are right after a difficult journey back from France. A lot of the preparation has been digital as we give the guys a chance to recover from the travel,” said Powell.
“It is a must-win two weeks for us. It is the same for Benetton as they are also in with a chance of making the playoffs. They will come with everything they have. They have their Italy internationals with them and are playing a good brand of rugby.
“We understand how important this game is for them, but it’s the same for us. We can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth. The guys are really keen to be successful and give ourselves the best chance of going into the Champions Cup next season and the URC quarter-finals.”
The Sharks are coming off a loss to Toulouse but they played well, despite the scoreline at the end.
“We were hoping to win against Toulouse and get into the Champions Cup semis,” Powell said. “We still believe we can go all the way in the URC, and have the squad to do it.
“If we get into the quarter-finals, we know we will play all the playoffs away. We only have two more games guaranteed against Benetton and Munster. We saw against Toulouse, that playing away in a knockout game is tough.
“We want to give ourselves the best opportunity to play for the Cup.”
Powell added that his team are gaining momentum despite last week’s loss.
“This is only the third game since the Springboks have returned. We haven’t seen the best of this team and there were a lot of positives in the Toulouse game. We are building momentum. We know there are kinks to fix, especially with our defence and we did speak about it,” he said.
“We do believe we can get ourselves into a URC final.”
Sharks team for Benetton: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt) 5, Hyron Andrews, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Kerron van Heerden, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Jeandre Labuschagne, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marnus Potgieter, 23 Thaakir Abrahams
IOL Sport