'Double trial' for Sharks
Sharks boss Jake White plans to use his team's pre-season outing against the Lions on Friday as a 'double trial'.
White said his focus for this match, one of just two pre-season outings, is similar to the encounter with Saracens recently – to give as much game time as possible to all the players/.
"I'd like to get some cohesion going with the main guys, as well as try and give opportunities to guys who I think might be needed in the next few weeks," the World Cup-winning former Springbok coach said on the Sharks website.
"We'll use this match as a double trial – one for seniors and also an opportunity for the juniors.
"What we want to get out of this is that I'd like my main guys to be playing and I'd like some of the juniors to also get some game time."
He added that excitement levels are climbing all the time as the season approaches.
The Sharks open their 2014 campaign when they host the Bulls in Durban on Saturday, February 15.
"I am looking forward to the start, it's time now," he said.
"The next couple of weeks will be nice as well. What I want people to understand is that we've had the most Springboks of any other franchise away.
"So I'd like a couple more weeks, but I know that the guys who have been training since October are waiting for an opportunity.
"That's exciting: two-thirds of my squad are youngsters, keen to get involved. And I have the experience of the older guys.
"We want to start because there is no much energy now with the new changes, the new CEO [former Bok skipper John Smit], a new vibe."
The Sharks also took a different approach to their pre-season.
Unlike some teams – such as the Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions who play three successive games – the Sharks travelled to London to play the table-topping English Premiership side Saracens, had a break and then play the Lions this week.
Had the Sharks had a protracted run of fixtures without rest at the start of the season, the Sharks' Director of Rugby, White, would have opted for more low-key games.
"Our choice of warm-up games was based on the Super Rugby draw," he explained.
"We have two byes in the first six weeks, so it's not bad to have a couple of tough games now. Had we had six or seven tough games in a row without a bye, I would be reluctant to play too many tough games now, because then it becomes a nine or 10 game stretch.
"The way it's worked out for us, we have the Bulls and Hurricanes and then a bye, then four games and another bye. It's not a bad thing to have one or two tough games now because of the fact that we get two byes so early."
The team arrived back from London in one piece, with just a few bumps and bruises and no major injuries to report, and will hope to have the same outcome as far as injuries are concerned when they take on the Lions.
