The Cell C Sharks will head up to Emirates Airline Park for Saturday evening’s Carling Currie Cup clash with the Xerox Lions with confidence and a measure of certainty that only a strong performance will win the day.
Defeating the Vodacom Bulls last Saturday at Jonsson Kings Park was morale-boosting and the team will take great confidence from their performance and ability to beat the log leaders, but they know the Lions are deserving of healthy doses of respect.
There have been some disruptions to the team, forcing head coach Sean Everitt into making a number of changes to the tight five for this match.
Dan Jooste and Ruben van Heerden are out due to Covid protocols and Thomas du Toit’s rib injury hasn’t healed, while Hyron Andrews has travelled home due to a family bereavement.
“It’s always going to be a disruption when you lose players like that,” said Everitt. “Ruben was playing really good rugby along with Hyron and Dan, and I thought Thomas was outstanding on Saturday. But it’s exciting for the guys coming in.
“So, while we would have liked those players who are missing out to have played, it’s an exciting opportunity for the guys coming through.”
There is another 6-2 split on the bench after Everitt loaded it with forwards last weekend and while he has a healthy respect for the Lions, this is more about continuity.
“The Lions are on fire at the moment, but in going 6-2 on the bench for us, I was trying to reward the team for a good performance against the Bulls. It’s also good for continuity that we continue on the road we are.”
Much has been made of the Cell C Sharks ‘performance-driven’ ethos. Their’s is not a win-at-all-costs attitude but rather one that embraces good performances that lead to victory.
“When we say we’re driving performances, we want this team to play their absolute best every weekend,” Everitt explained. “We’re driving consistency in our performance, but we need to face reality here, this is a vital game as far as log points are concerned. The challenge for the team is that we have three very tough games coming up over a difficult period, the first time our guys will be playing over the festive Christmas season.
“From a log perspective, the Bulls game this weekend has been called off so they’ll get two points, but we are focused on our game knowing that this is a crucial match for us.”
Much has been made of the Cell C Sharks’ successful home record, but playing away has its advantages too and the team are excited about the opportunity to get away from the Durban humidity and play some running rugby.
“Our guys enjoy playing with ball in hand,” said Everitt. “We played some of our best rugby early in the year when we were away from home and scored some great tries, so the guys are looking forward to hopefully have a dry ball to play with.”
There was a mix of the good and not so bad as far as injury news goes, with the coach confirming that prop du Toit has a rib cartilage injury and that his return to play will be determined by his comfort levels in training which could be anywhere between two and four weeks.
“As far as Aphelele Fassi goes, he started bag contact work last week and got through training well this week, so we’re hoping that he will be available to be included in next week’s match day squad.”