Ken Borland

The Lions went at the breakdown like a pack of dogs in their opening-round Rainbow Cup fixture against the Bulls, so their opponents this weekend, the Sharks, know that the rucks are going to be a key area of their game at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Sharks were dogged by turnovers last weekend against a Stormers side whose efforts in that department were led by the excellent Nama Xaba, so eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe admitted on Tuesday that the breakdowns were a major area of focus for them this week.

“There are always work-ons after the first round of a competition, but the breakdown is a focus this week because of how poor we were in Cape Town. We let the stealers get their hands on the ball, our reaction-time was poor. When someone carries the ball, you have to look after them.

”We haven’t shown consistency in that area and in some games we’ve just lost concentration. Sometimes we just don’t look after our team-mate when they go into contact, but we’ve addressed that and we are working hard on that,” Notshe said on Tuesday.

While the Sharks were not happy with how they played against the Stormers, Notshe said their defensive commitment and discipline were two big positives from the 33-30 win.

“It was a 100% effort. We were 20-3 down at one stage but the energy and intensity levels stayed good, and we must never lose that feeling for each other. At the end it would have been easy to give up a penalty, but we forced them to kick a 50/50 grubber instead. Our defence was good and so was our discipline, those were the positives and the areas where we have shown growth.

“We also adapted well to the new laws. We have to make sure we start and finish well against the Lions, they are a very physical team and we also respect them because they showed in our Super Rugby Unlocked match what they can do in the second 40. Their general [Elton Jantjies] is away on loan, so that probably gives us an edge, but we respect Fred Zeilinga, he didn’t do badly against the Bulls, he controlled the game well,” Notshe said.

The arrival of tighthead prop Wiehahn Herbst at Kings Park on a short-term deal perhaps shows where the Sharks’ focus is this week as they prepare to take on the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday in their opening Rainbow Cup match.

With an all-Springbok front row of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe believed to be lined up to play the Sharks, countering the scrum threat that Western Province will pose is obviously a starting point in the planning for coach Sean Everitt and his team.

Thomas du Toit, also a World Cup winning Springbok, is the first-choice tighthead at the moment, but the drop off in quality when the Sharks’ first-choice front row does not play was one of the worrying aspects for Everitt last season.

Herbst, who was at training on Tuesday, was a stalwart of the Sharks side between 2009 and 2014, making 40 Super Rugby appearances and 52 in the Currie Cup. The well-travelled 32-year-old has also played for the Bulls and Lions and has turned out 80 times for Ulster, earning a reputation as a powerful scrummager.

Which Du Toit acknowledged on Tuesday is exactly what the Sharks are going to need against the Stormers on Saturday.

“The Stormers are always a quality side and seem to be in a better space now than previously. They’re a fantastic side with a great pack and good game-plans, they are definitely still going to be a proper challenge to play against. They never shy away from the physical side, they look to dominate in the scrums and mauls.

“It’s a nice challenge to come up against the first-choice Springbok front row because you always want to measure yourself against the best and this is an awesome opportunity to do that,” Du Toit said.

The former Western Province U16 and U18 player said the Sharks have also noticed that Western Province have worked hard on their all-round game.

“We anticipate they’re going to bring both sides of the game, we’ve seen them play more in the preparation series. So we’re ready for both – the physical game and a more ball-in-hand, all-out attacking game. But we always stay the same, there’s a certain DNA at the Sharks which we always try to live out on the field,” Du Toit said.

The Sharks team announced by Sean Everitt on Friday for their preparation fixture against Griquas in Durban on Sunday spans the gamut of experience from captain Jeremy Ward, in his fifth season at Kings Park, to his centre partner Murray Koster, who will don the Black and White for the first time.

But the two most interesting selections are at openside flank and flyhalf.

James Venter has been out of action for the duration of the post-Lockdown season, but the 24-year-old was in superb form a year ago in Super Rugby. The No.6 flank was rightly praised for his ability to cover the field from side-to-side and his skill at the breakdown. And then he got injured, opening the door for Dylan Richardson, who performed the fetcher role so well he was one of the finds of the 2020/21 season.

But Venter is back now and has the chance to remind everyone of his qualities as he adds to the Sharks’ loose forward depth.

“James has got experience and unfortunately he was injured at the start of Super Rugby Unlocked, then he got concussed and then he caught Covid. So it was not a happy end-of-season for him. But he will bring leadership and experience and he is, of course, a fantastic rugby player,” Everitt said on Friday.

Manie Libbok can do things on a rugby field that can make a spectator squawk with delight, but all his previous appearances for the Sharks have been at fullback. Now he gets to call the shots at flyhalf, his opportunity coming as Curwin Bosch, one of the heroes of the last season, gets a well-deserved break. How Libbok handles the pressure of an abrasive Griquas defence in his face, as opposed to the space he gets at fullback, will be interesting to see.

“Manie was signed as a utility player and we actually didn’t expect him to play so many games at fullback, but Aphelele Fassi got injured. And then when Manie was meant to be getting a run as a replacement flyhalf against Griquas in Kimberley last year in Super Rugby Unlocked, Anthony Volmink got injured and he played fullback again.

“But flyhalf is Manie’s favourite position and he’s trained very well there, it’s just with Curwin in such good form he never got a chance. But last year against the Hurricanes, Curwin missed the game because of a family bereavement and we struggled without him because we haven’t really been able to build a second flyhalf who can challenge him,” Everitt explained.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Jeremy Ward (C), Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, JJ vd Mescht, Michael Kumbirai, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench – Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuka Mchunu, John-Hubert Meyer, Reniel Hugo, Mpilo Gumede, Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Chait, Thaakir Abrahams.

The Sharks are currently in fourth position on the Currie Cup log and notwithstanding the Free State/Western Province match being the showpiece clash of the weekend, when Griquas rock up at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon, the home side will be involved in just as much of a do-or-die clash as the two teams in Bloemfontein.

The Free State Cheetahs are the team in fifth, one point behind the Sharks, so obviously the KwaZulu-Natalians cannot afford to slip up against the bottom side on the log. Especially since they play Western Province at Newlands in the last round of fixtures. Western Province have their own pressures because they could finish anywhere from first to fifth, and out of the semi-finals, depending on their results in the next fortnight.

Just to add to the pressure on the Sharks’ they are currently dealing with a Covid outbreak and with some players coming back and others testing positive, coach Sean Everitt has been forced to change the majority of his team over the last few weeks. And it has shown in heavy defeats on the road to the Lions and the Cheetahs.

Everitt was doing his best to paint a positive picture on Thursday.

“This team has had a good week’s preparation, they are very tough on themselves and they have high standards, they know they have not delivered the standards of performance we expect over the last two weeks. But it’s easily identifiable what went wrong against the Cheetahs and we know Griquas are always a massive challenge as well.

“They always run teams close and I feel they were unfortunate not to beat the Lions and Western Province. We have no doubt what they will bring, they are desperate as well and obviously motivated to knock over one of the big four. So we are under no illusions, we know it is going to be a physical battle and a big duel at set-piece. But our team is determined to bounce back,” Everitt said on Thursday.

Desperation, motivation, physicality and set-piece prowess are also all the sort of properties the Pumas, those other ‘minnows’ of the Currie Cup, will bring to their match against the Lions on Saturday, especially since they are playing in Nelspruit.

While the Lions are rightfully wary of their neighbours, they are also targeting a bonus point win because that could make a massive difference in their hunt for a home semi-final. Ivan van Rooyen’s team are currently in third place, two points behind Western Province and six behind log-leaders the Bulls.

Momentum is with the Lions and they are also quite fortunate in terms of player availability, with in-form prop Sti Sithole probably their only first-choice player who is out injured at the moment.