Hitting back: Sharks aim to sharpen teeth for Bulls clash

The Sharks were thumped 49-28 by the Bulls in a marvellous display of running rugby the last time they met – on SuperFan Saturday at the end of last month – giving the KwaZulu-Natalians plenty to think about ahead of their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

These are the areas they are pondering on the most:

Matching the Bulls’ physicality

The Bulls dominated the Sharks from the outset with their power game, blowing them off the park up front.

To fix that requires as much of a mental change as a physical response.

“The Bulls are a physical side so we expect that again and we have to match their physicality. That requires a change of mindset from us so we can do what we do best. It was a bad experience up there last time, but we learned a lot,” said scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba.

Kicking game

Normally a strength of the Sharks, but the Bulls, helped by all that front-foot ball, had the edge in their last meeting, and three missed high balls cost Sean Everitt’s team dearly.

The Sharks kickers need to sharpen up and be more accurate.

“We need to fix that so we take the counter-attacking opportunities away. If we’re accurate with the boot then that’s sorted.”

Breakdowns

The Bulls dominated the gain-line and Marco van Staden had a pilferer’s field day in the rucks.

The Sharks need a greater collective effort to get quicker ball and therefore the momentum their game-plan relies upon. Quick ball from source means good ball to use; slow ball makes it difficult to get momentum, to get over the gain-line and shift the pressure.

Being under pressure themselves led to more turnovers – a vicious circle.

Set-pieces

It’s not that the Sharks were terrible in the scrums and lineouts, but they know it’s an area where they cannot afford to give the Bulls an edge.

“The set-piece is always a work-on because every team is different, so you have to prepare differently and your tactics change every week. It’s an obvious strength of the Bulls and we accept the challenge,” said tighthead prop Thomas du Toit.

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