Sharks shift focus to URC after successful Champions Cup start

The Sharks have shifted their focus straight back to the United Rugby Championship (URC) after a very successful start to their Champions Cup campaign over the past two weekends.

The Sharks enjoyed a bonus point home win over English Premiership club Harlequins and followed that up with an impressive 19-16 away win over French Top 14 side Bordeaux Begles this past weekend.

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They will now have a short turnaround after a gruelling trip back home, as they prepare to host the Lions in their URC clash at Kings Park on Friday night.

“It was a really important win for us. I think we have put ourselves in a very good position to get into the knockout stages. Hopefully with the two remaining games in the EPCR (Champions Cup) we can try and get a home round of 16 and quarterfinal game,” said Sharks coach Neil Powell.

“It was a great win for us but also an important win in terms of getting a bit of confidence that we can take from the last few performances into the URC,” he added.

“We have a tough opponent in the Lions coming up on Friday night at home in Durban. Hopefully we can keep up with these performances and make a step up.”

Underwhelming return

After a very underwhelming return to the URC following the international break, which saw them smashed at home by Cardiff 35-0, and then just edge Ospreys 25-10 after two late tries, the Sharks seem to be back on track after their two Champions Cup wins.

Their win over Bordeaux in particular will be a big confidence booster as playing the French teams in France is said to be the toughest in the Champions Cup, and they will be eager to build on that performance going forward.

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“It was a great win for us. When we found out we had to come to Bordeaux and play them here, everybody told us how difficult it is to win away in France against a French team,” said Powell.

“We obviously saw how difficult it is and how big of an impact the crowd has on the performance of the team.

“Every player came off the field and said how tough it was out there. So obviously it was a good thing for us to get through that game with a positive result even though it was physical and tough.”