URC crunch-time: Sharks to use conditions to their advantage against Ulster

The Sharks will be aiming to use the tough Durban conditions to their advantage when they take on Ulster in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon.

With it being another 2pm kick-off, very hot and humid conditions as well as a bit of rain are expected which could make things very tricky for the players.

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A few weeks ago the Sharks took on the Stormers in very difficult conditions and came off second best, but centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg says they took a lot of learnings out of that game and will be much better prepared for Ulster this weekend.

“There are a sequence of things you have to look at when it comes to the weather in Durban, particularly with how hot it gets,” explained Janse van Rensburg.

“I think we as a team took a lot of learnings out of that week of the Stormers game. Our training was very intense that week, because we thought we would get the benefit from that. But it was a learning curve for us as a team and management.

“We have realised now that in a hot week like that one was, you have to manage the training sessions in a certain way. Coming here to play us in this heat is going to require a massive adjustment for the Ulster team.

“That will be to our advantage. They have come from a northern winter and they have been in the cold. But from our perspective, we learned a lot from the Stormers game and I think we will be very different in this game, just because of the learnings we took.”

Six nations duty

Despite Ulster being at a further disadvantage with a number of their best players missing out due to being on Six Nations duty, Janse van Rensburg admitted that the Sharks still have to be on their game and make sure they limit their errors.

“Teams like Leinster and Ulster are super well drilled, so the margin for error is way less. So when they come here, with the heat, we have to use that to our advantage,” said Janse van Rensburg.

“Every point matters now. Every point is huge to get closer to the top five. Any team that comes to Durban needs to work for their points. That’s something we put an onus on.”