Sharks game against Stormers will be World War 3

THE Sharks this week enter a massively important three-match period that is sandwiched between their two mandatory byes, with two home games that simply have to be won and an away match against the Stormers which will be World War III.

This week it is the Hurricanes at Kings Park, then the retribution encounter in Cape Town before the Sharks entertain the Brumbies, and then go into their second bye week.

That is the way the cookie has crumbled for the Sharks in terms of their draw – eight games on the trot; a bye; three games; a second bye and then a five-game finishing flourish. It is by no means a bad draw but it is absolutely crucial for the Sharks to harvest as many as possible of the 15 points on offer in this short three-match, between-byes period.

First up is a Hurricanes team that have been a big disappointment for the Kiwi capital city of Wellington. The traditionally freewheeling Canes have not yet settled under the rigid organisation of dyed-in-the-wool Crusaders man Mark Hammett, although they will be hoping that their tour opening win in Bloemfontein at the weekend is a turning point. The Hurricanes’ team culture is a world apart from the Crusaders but when they get on song, they can Cane anybody, the Cantabrians included.

The Wellingtonians come to Kings Park having beaten the Cheetahs in the last movement of their match in the Free State capital at the weekend. It was 50-47 to the visitors – that is three points short of a ton to state the obvious, and approximating a Super Rugby disgrace in terms of defence.

The Cheetahs’ backline, to be frank, tackled like a bunch of girls, in the overall analysis. They were generally pathetic in their first-time tackling and their team paid the price in the end, and their coaching staff had every right to feel aggrieved. No wonder Naka Drotske was pounding the desk in the coach’s box. The Cheetahs missed 19 tackles and the Canes scored six tries. Enough said.

The Sharks will have taken notice of the obvious – allow the Hurricanes’ athletes to break the first line of defence and you more than likely will be having a chat behind your posts.

*** Sharks’ remaining fixtures

April 23 v Hurricanes (H)

April 30 v Stormers (A)

May 7 v Brumbies (H)

Bye

May 21 v Bulls (H)

May 28 v Waratahs (H)

June 4 v Cheetahs (A)

June 11 v Lions (A)

June 18 v Bulls (A)