Durban — The Sharks had a bye week after their United Rugby Championship (URC) capitulation to the Stormers so they have not been short of time to analyse what went wrong and then address it on the training pitch.
IOL Sport’s Mike Greenaway looks at five things the Durbanites would have focussed on ahead of visiting the Lions on Saturday.
Disengage reverse gear
The manner in which the Sharks’ scrum was shoved backward was a reminder of the days in 2021 and 2022 when it was a significant problem, resulting in the wholesale purchasing of a Springbok tight five, give or take a lock. The problem is that there are no Boks to come to the rescue and it will be up to Carlu Sadie and Ntuthuko Mchunu to pull their socks up because the Lions' scrum happens to be a strength.
Order in the house
The Stormers loved the Sharks because they were a team that just kept on giving … penalties that is. Referee Jaco Peyper enjoyed an aerobic workout by repeatedly thrusting his hand into the Durban air and perpetually in favour of the visitors as the Sharks lost their shape and their cool. Curwin Bosch said as much on Tuesday: “Our discipline was poor and that meant we were continually on the back foot and found could not back into the game.”
Tune in!
I don’t know where the Sharks’ minds were against the Stormers but they were not tuned into Hollywoodbets Kings Park and fixing this issue should be easy because the fall-out from the 46-19 loss hasn’t stopped. Neil Powell said just after the final whistle: “I have no excuses. I am not sure that after the Edinburgh win, we thought the Stormers would be an easy game, being at home, but clearly, our mental preparation was wrong.”
No schoolboy errors
I am confident of one thing this Saturday at Ellis Park — Thaakir Abrahams WILL NOT miss touch. The last time that happened, the Stormers licked their lips at the back and then 60 metres later gloriously deposited the ball under the Sharks’ crossbar, with Abrahams missing a tackle in the counter-attack for a double dose of humiliation. Three times in the first 15 minutes the Sharks made glaring errors — schoolboys would have blushed — and three times the Stormers obliged with seven-pointers.
Hit the ground running
Bosch said it on Tuesday … The players cannot sit around waiting for somebody else to do something, as they did against the Stormers — they have to collectively pull finger and make things happen. And when your confidence has taken a battering, as it undoubtedly has, the sooner in the game you hit your groove the better. The other side of the coin is that if they let the Lions get their tails up it will be a long afternoon on the Highveld for the visitors.
Boss the breakdown
This is a rugby cliché but boy is it true. When the Sharks lost to Harlequins in London, a big issue was that they were softies at the breakdown. This gave Quins front-foot ball and a happy Marcus Smith did the rest, orchestrating an avalanche of attacking plays. The following week, against Edinburgh, the Sharks fixed this problem, and then some. And a famous result took care of itself. And the next week? The Sharks’ physicality in this department went AWOL and Manie Libbok had a comfy afternoon winning the Man of the Match award.
IOL Sport