The Grubber: Three crucial home fixtures await the in-form Sharks

THE Kings Park faithful have been waiting patiently for some Super Rugby action and will be rewarded with a high-profile fixture against the tricky Argentines and last year’s finalist, the Jaguares.

The Jaguares are happy about their convincing 39-24 win over a struggling Bulls outfit and will look to replicate last week’s clinical showing against the eye-catching Sharks’ side.

The Sharks have been impressive so far this season with a decent four wins from a possible five and winning three from four on tour.

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Sean Everitt’s outfit has a lot to be confident about going into their second home fixture of the season.

The men in black have scored some incredible highlight-reel tries, with players such as Captain, Lukhanyo Am; Wingers; Madosh Tambwe and Makazole Mapimpi and eighth-man, Sikumbuzo Notshe featuring well in attack. Aphelele “Weekend Special” Fassi has also been outstanding this season.

The fullback has been terrorising defences with his long-limbs, speed and his creative play.

Springbok, Sbu Nkosi, makes a return to the starting line-up, replacing Madosh Tambwe.

It doesn’t matter which winger is starting, or whether or not one player is more match fit than the other, The Sharks have been able to punish opponents with their effective transition from defence to attack.

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Although most of the headlines have been dominated by the exciting backs, the forwards have added some well-needed balance to the Sharks attack.

Notshe has been able to link the forwards to the backs really well with his offloading game and in terms of retrieving the ball in defence and nifty number 6, James Venter, has impressed with his hard work in the breakdown.

The Jaguares will pose a different challenge for the home side this weekend with their strong forward pack that’s been a prominent fixture in their game since last season.

One thing that should worry Sharks’ fans is how quickly these crucial fixtures are coming without any bye-week. After the Jaguares, the Durban outfit will host a well-rested Stormers side in a top-of-the conference clash and welcome Warren Gatland’s touring Chiefs side.

It doesn’t get easier for Sean Everitt’s men and he’ll hope his side stays fit for these games.

The Panel:

 Matt Everitt returns to the panel this week and is joined by Darren Reineke, who’s a seasonal rugby 10s for the Tim Noakes Foundation, Former Villagers RFC and Stellenbosch Academy player and has a World Rugby coaching level 1 certificate from the Western Province Academy.

Darren: the next three games are pretty crucial especially because the Jaguares, who we play on Saturday, are always a danger whether or not they are coming off a loss as they have huge experience and most of the national Argentinian team in their ranks. There is also the Stormers who are top of the conference and one point ahead of us but are facing a bye this week so we could really capitalise on the game up advantage going into our clash with them next week.

If you look at it from a conference standpoint, the Jaguares are behind us also by only one point so if we beat them while the Stormers have a bye, we take top of the conference, while we play directly second being the Stormers and the Jaguares face, although a struggling, but an always difficult highlanders in round 7. Round 8 against the chiefs will also be a tough one considering they’re currently tied for 2nd and are behind The Sharks on the overall leader board so depending on their results against the Canes in round 7, and Tah’s in round 6, they will either be fighting for first of their conference or fighting us for a wildcard slot on the overall log.

Matt: The Sharks have returned home after a very successful Australasian tour winning 3 of their 4 fixtures. The Sharks will now look forward to a run of home fixtures, which see them take on the Jaguares, Stormers and Warren Gatland’s Chiefs. These home fixtures are crucial for The Sharks if they want to stake a claim for themselves in the competition. In the past few seasons The Sharks have been known to tour well and then come back to lose home fixtures that they should be winning. Which is something Sharks’ coach, Sean Everitt, will want to fix in order to make them strong title contenders. This is going to be extremely tough and will test the depth of the squad, as returning from a tour and playing 8 games on the trot without a bye is challenging. However, they would’ve gained confidence in their squad as their resting policy has worked a charm as players have stepped up to the plate when asked to, with the likes of Dylan Richardson and Henco Venter putting up their hands last week and placing extra pressure on the coaching staff.

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