Gold: Stormers are years ahead of us
Both teams enter Round Three undefeated and they also top their respective conferences in this year's tournament. However, Gold feels the Stormers are the more settled side heading into Saturday's encounter.
"I got a lot of respect for the Stormers," said Gold, who was addressing media in Durban on Thursday.
"I think they are a good couple of years ahead of us in terms of their developments and continuity of coaches.
"They have done a great job and you can see that they are a tight unit.
"We got a huge amount of respect for them and hopefully we show them the respect they deserve. We have to really pitch up in Cape Town."
The Sharks beat the Jaguares 19-15 last weekend and while that game was a stern test for the Durbanites, Gold believes their match with the Stormers will 
be even harder.
"We believe, with respect to the other two opponents we faced, this is going to be our sternest test of Super Rugby to date.
"It's a nervy game, but I think I am probably more excited than I am nervous.
"This is why we work so hard, this is what the players play for and we are really excited to go back to Cape Town. I just feel incredibly energised about having this test to see where we are in the season," Gold added.
One area where the Sharks have put a lot of work into this week was in the line-outs.
The Stormers destroyed the Cheetahs in the line-outs and with former Sharks star Pieter-Steph du Toit now plying his trade in Cape Town, the Durban-based side had to make a few changes to their line-out calls.
"I think the set-piece battle is going to be huge," said Sharks captain Tendai Mtawarira.
"The Stormers got two world-class locks and we know exactly what we are up against.
"We had a good week in preparation. I think [Stephan] Lewies is a very clever guy – he already changed some of the calls because Pieter-Steph [du Toit] knows most of the stuff. So I think we are well prepared.
"They [Stormers] have a formidable pack and history speaks for itself. They started the season really well.
"Looking at ourselves, we want to keep on improving every week and last week was a tough test against the Argentinians. We rose to the challenge and this week it is going to be a much tougher challenge."
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
