Sharks ready for ‘most important game’ of URC

The Sharks are fired up and ready for what is turning out to be a massively important game in their quest to secure a place in the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs and try clinch a home quarterfinal, when they take on Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday.

The Sharks are currently ranked seventh on the URC log, so have yet to secure their place in the knockouts while they also know another loss would likely knock them out of contention to host a play-off match.

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They have thus targeted a full house of points against their Welsh opponents to try and keep themselves in the hunt.

“This weekend’s game is probably our most important game in trying to get into the URC play-offs,” explained Sharks wing Werner Kok.

“We are currently seventh on the log and that means we are in the last qualifying spot, because we know that if a Welsh side isn’t able to make the top eight, they will still take that last play-off place.

“So our goal is to get a bonus point win this weekend to solidify our place in the top seven. Our focus is then on trying to get a home quarterfinal and the only chance we have to do that is if we get 15 points from the next three games, and then we still have to have other results going our way.”

Springbok stars

The Sharks will be bolstered by the return of their Springbok stars, who have not been unavailable over the past few months, and although the Welsh teams have struggled this season Kok admits the team knows just how tough the Scarlets can be.

“It’s always a big lift to have the Springboks back. They bring a different quality of training and precision, so it helps quite a bit having them here. It boosts everyone in the team, even the vibe coming into training last week and now going into the weekend is amazing,” said Kok.

“You can never underestimate any team. We saw early in the season how we were pushed by the Dragons, which was a very physical game and the Welsh players can play proper rugby.

“Scarlets are also getting a number of internationals back, so it’s going to be a big test and we are going to have to be on top of the ball from minute one if we want to win.”