Sharks in make or break game today

The listlessness of last week’s performance against the Stormers will give way to extreme urgency in the Sharks’ ranks when they host the Lions in a match coach John Plumtree reckons is just about make or break for his team’s Super Rugby campaign.

While the Sharks will never publicly admit it, travel fatigue kicked in last week and against a team as good as the Stormers, you are going to lose if you are the slight bit lethargic.

There is no such excuse this week and after having dropped that home game in addition to losses in Hamilton and London in the preceding fortnight, the Sharks have slipped from first to third on the SA Conference and eighth overall, and a further loss will see them enter the cellar from which teams seldom emerge.

Ask Plumtree. Last year, the Sharks started with five losses and seven wins from their last eight games was insufficient to earn them a top four finish. They got as far as the mid-table quicksand and just could not get out.

But if the Sharks win tomorrow night it effectively becomes an eight or nine point (depending on the bonus point, plus next week’s four points for the bye) injection that will lift them into the competitive area of the log.

Not surprisingly, the Sharks have put themselves on a “Test match footing”, but while the desire will certainly be there, how they go about securing a bonus-point win is key. They have to be careful they don’t get loose and throw the ball around recklessly which would play into the hands of a Lions team that thrives on a helter-skelter game, although with Andre Pretorius back in the saddle, they might look to play a bit more of the percentages.

The Sharks will look to get into the right areas, launch attacks and build pressure, with the forwards playing up the middle more than they have been.

Plumtree has made two changes to his front row for the match, recalling captain John Smit for Tendai Mtawarira and giving a start to Eugene van Staden at tighthead in place of Jannie du Plessis.

In the second row, injured Alistair Hargreaves is replaced by Gerhard Mostert and Ross Skeate is the newcomer on the bench.

For the Lions, the most significant change to the side that lost to the Reds is the recall of James Kamana at fullback. The former New Zealand Sevens star has served a three-match ban and replaces injured Michael Killian, while George Earle replaces David Bulbring in the second row. Derick Minnie is also back in the run-on side, coming in for Cobus Grobbelaar, who will play Vodacom Cup rugby this weekend.

And in a further move, Mitchell has included lock David de Villiers on the bench, where he joins utility forward and former Sharks man Michael Rhodes, to strengthen his team’s lineout.

There is a strong Sharks connection in the Lions team, with a host of former Durban men wanting to prove a point. In the starting line-up Waylon Murray, Warren Whitely and Pat Cilliers were not offered contracts by the Sharks and on the bench fiery Rory Kockott will be hoping he gets a chance to state his case.

Flyhalf Andre Pretorious is another who was in the Shark Tank as early as last year’s Currie Cup.

Sharks: Louis Ludik, Odwa Ndungane, Stefan Terblanche, Meyer Bosman, JP Pietersen, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Charl McLeod, Ryan Kankowski, Willem Alberts, Keegan Daniel, Gerhard Mostert, Steven Sykes, Eugene van Staden, Bismarck du Plessis, John Smit (capt).

Substitutes: Tendai Mtawarira, Jannie du Plessis, Ross Skeate, Jacques Botes, Conrad Hoffman, Adrian Jacobs, Lwazi Mvovo

Lions: James Kamana, Lionel Mapoe, Waylon Murray, Doppies la Grange (capt), Deon van Rensburg, Andre Pretorius, Jano Vermaak, Warren Whiteley, Josh Strauss, Derick Minnie, Franco van der Merwe, George Earle, Pat Cilliers, Bandise Maku, JC Janse van Rensburg.

Substitutes: Edgar Marutlulle, Jacobie Adriaanse, David de Villiers, Michael Rhodes, Rory Kockott, Elton Jantjies, Jaco Taute

by Mike Greenaway www.iol.co.za

[tags Sharks ,Lions,John Plumtree