Tonight’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against Ospreys at Hollywoodbets Kings Park is vital for all manner of reasons for the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
They’re currently riding a wave of confidence and continuity, and enjoying an upward trajectory in fortunes, but all that counts for nothing without the complete – or close to it – performance, which is vital as the pool stages wind down and the knock-out rounds loom large.
With two rounds remaining and much on the line for most teams – the Hollywoodbets Sharks included – for head coach John Plumtree, his team has shown what they are capable of, but he’d like to see more of that.
“Looking at the ladder and the points, we’re reasonably happy with where we’re at, but we’re not reasonably happy with the way we’re playing. Certainly there were moments against Ulster, particularly, when we were pretty good and we looked comfortable on the park.
“But we were also scratching at times, there were lots of soft moments from players and it certainly wasn’t how we prepared. I’ve challenged the boys around making sure their game preparation as well as their mental and personal preparation is better so that we can nail those moments in the game that are important to the team.
“Often it’s little skillset errors that aren’t in pressure situations, and those are the parts that are killing us.
“That’s the big challenge for this week and something I’ve identified. We’re looking forward to an 80 minute performance.”
Ospreys, placed 11th on the log and just three points outside the top 8, will come to Durban full of motivation and confidence, fresh off a 57-24 victory over the Dragons in round 16.
Welsh rugby has had its share of challenges – they failed to register a win in the Six Nations tournament and finished bottom of the log – but having two sides, potentially three, in the top 8 of the VURC does suggest that provincially, they are strong.
“The Welsh boys are tough and they don’t go away, they keep coming at you,” Plumtree admitted. “They create their own belief, they’re very passionate about the game and they shut the outside noise off, not listening to what is said about them, even though they’re going through a lot right now.
“That makes them tough.”
As a team that has defeated the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the past, Plumtree is under no illusion as to the challenges posed by the Ospreys.
“In our prep this week, we showed the boys what Ospreys are all about and they were sitting on the edge of their seats.
“We have our own aspirations, we want to push for the VURC finals and get our game going, which we started on tour and need to continue now.
“They’re standing in our way and our mindset is that we need to go through them to get there. It will be the same for next week and after that.
“We haven’t qualified for the top 4 yet, but we have for the top 8 and we have to do the job on the weekend.”
Tonight’s match kicks off at 7pm.