Sharks to up their physicality tonight against the Crusaders

The word from the Sharks this week is that they are going to have to up their physicality tonight against the Crusaders and the retort from the New Zealanders is that they will give as good as they get.

Yesterday, Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder told The Mercury that the need to win the physical battle had likewise been highlighted in the Crusaders camp.

“It always is when we are in South Africa,” the genial former All Blacks captain said. “When you play teams like the Stormers and the Sharks you know what is in store for you and if you don’t pitch up for the physical battle you can come badly second.

“It is the nature of the way the South African teams play. They are confrontational and you have to match them.”

The Crusaders have been doing that for the last three weeks. After an indifferent opening start to the season they clicked into form to beat the Bulls 41-19, then the Southern Kings 55-20 before outlasting the Stormers 19-14 last week.

Blackadder, one of the true gentleman of the game, said his team were thrilled to have the opportunity of taking maximum points from their South African tour by beating the Sharks.

History is certainly on their side. The Sharks have a disappointing record against the Crusaders, having won just twice in 16 encounters. But that statistic will not help the visitors tonight.

“It is about how long you can keep up the intensity in these games,” Blackadder said. “I feel that this year’s competition is even more physical than last year. Having said that, I am very pleased with how we have come through in training this week after the toll the Stormers game took on us. It is a short turnaround for us with it being a Friday game and the challenge is there for our guys to step up against a Sharks team that we respect and that will be refreshed from their bye.”

Interestingly, Blackadder said that the Crusaders had taken note of the tragic incident that occurred after the Rebels game and that while their job is to focus on the rugby, they would look forward to the Kings Park post-match experience.

“We were very sad to hear what happened. But the atmosphere on the Kings Park outer fields is special and we always look forward to mixing with the crowd after the game and will do so again,” he said.

Blackadder said his analysis of the Sharks’ season so far reminded him of his own team.

“I think both teams started slowly and are now building towards their best form,” he said. “The Sharks play a bit like New Zealand teams in how they try to use the ball and explore the width of the field.”

The Sharks scored a record 10 tries against the Rebels and while they will find the Crusaders’ defence an entirely different proposition to that of the Melbourne team, they have rediscovered their confidence to cross the try line.

“When we think of the Sharks we think of a team that was good enough to defy the odds and make the final of the 2012 competition,” Blackadder said. “That was some achievement.”

The Crusaders are a team that know better than anybody else what is required to make the Super rugby final. Since 1998, they have played 10 finals and won seven of them, and missed the play-offs just once.

But what will be bugging the good folk of Christchurch is that the last title was won in 2008 and that is four years too long for the most demanding fans in rugby.

But Blackadder knows that panic can only be counter-productive.

“You are under pressure but you have to enjoy what you are doing, otherwise it affects your decision-making, the players, and the people you work with,” he says. “It can’t all be about the one outcome – winning a title.”

He is inferring that each week you do the best you can to secure the result in front of you and then hopefully the title takes care of itself. And it has certainly worked for the Crusaders over the years. They tend to be slow out of the blocks and then build irresistible momentum towards the business end of the competition.

Blackadder’s countryman, John Plumtree, will have been telling his Sharks charges exactly that this week – you let the Crusaders get into their stride at your peril. And that should add up to an explosive start to tonight’s match. It will not be for the faint of heart as two determined, in-form teams fight for the upper hand in a game that is too close to call.

Sharks: Frans Steyn, Odwa Ndungane, Paul Jordaan, Meyer Bosman, JP Pietersen, Pat Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Keegan Daniel (captain), Marcell Coetzee, Jacques Botes, Franco van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jannie du Plessis, Kyle Cooper, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Craig Burden, Wiehahn Herbst, Anton Bresler, Ryan Kankowski, Charl McLeod, Riaan Viljoen, Louis Ludik / Sbura Sithole.

Crusaders: Tom Marshall, Adam Whitelock Robbie Fruean, Ryan Crotty, Zac Guildford, Tyler Bleyendaal, Andy Ellis, Luke Whitelock, Matt Todd, George Whitelock (captain), Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Owen Franks, Ben Funnell, Wyatt Crockett. Replacements: Codie Taylor, Joe Moody, Dominic Bird, Jordan Taufua, Willi Heinz, Telusa Veainu, Israel Dagg.

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe

By Mike Greenaway