The final round of the EPCR Challenge Cup pool stages takes place this weekend with the Hollywoodbets Sharks taking on the Dragons at the 8700 seater Rodney Parade Stadium in Newport on Sunday evening.
A win carries meaning in numerous ways for the Hollywoodbets Sharks who are top of the log, but know that this could all change if they don’t perform to their potential. Added to that is a season that is starting to flow nicely and another win would help to build some momentum and continuity.
Neither side will be using history as a motivating factor, although the last meeting was somewhat one-sided when the Hollywoodbets Sharks beat the Dragons 69-14 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park back in November.
In the last meeting between the two teams in Wales, the result was much closer, just one point separating the victorious Hollywoodbets Sharks team, who prevailed 20-19 in October, 2022.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks go into the final weekend of the group stages top of Pool A, although by the time they play in the final match of the round on Sunday evening, that may have changed following the results of the other teams’ performances within the pool.
Regardless of that, they will look to finish on a high, and certainly top of the pool to ensure home ground advantage for the round of 16.
Playing at Hollywoodbets Kings Park also means no travel and no freezing conditions.
“We’ve had a good, but challenging day or two, and we arrived a day earlier to make sure we maximise our recovery time,” explains Hollywoodbets Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell.
“The conditions here [in Wales] aren’t ideal, it’s bitterly cold and the field was frozen for our practice session, so we know it’s going to be uncomfortable for us this weekend, but we need to create our own comfort in the way we approach this game and embrace the fact that it’s going to be wet and cold.
“We’ve planned our game and week around what we can expect which is not comfortable or the best conditions, but the guys have bought into it.”
The Dragons have one win to the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ two in the first three rounds of the pool stages and a victory for the home side could throw the cat amongst the pigeons as far as entry into the knock-outs goes which all makes for added motivation – for both sides.
“We’ve embraced the challenge that lies ahead and we expect a physical battle with lots of kicking because it’s going to be a wet and windy game,” Powell points out.
“But we are up for the challenge and looking forward to hopefully getting a successful outcome against the Dragons away.
“We’re happy with where we are and happy with the plan we want to impose on them and hopefully that will be enough for us to get a win.”