Sharks have the 'quality' to upset the odds

The men from Durban, without a win in the last five weeks of Super Rugby, face off against the defending champion Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday.

And bookmakers have given them a handicap (head start) of more than 10 points – suggesting another hiding is on the cards.

However, loose forward Philip van der Walt, who had a rare start in the loss to the Blues last week, believes there is enough quality in the team to upset those odds and turn their season around.

"Obviously we were very disappointed with the loss," he said of a game where they held a 18-10 lead against the Blues in Auckland, only to go scoreless in the last half-hour and ultimately lose 18-23.

"We want to turn it around on the tour and we have the quality within the team to cause a couple of upsets.

"We will definitely be up for it on Friday.

"We are determined to prove ourselves, as we feel we haven't played as well as we can the last couple of games."

He admitted the Sharks have been making too many errors on attacking, which is at the heart of their inability to turn opportunities into points.

"We were a little impatient and we have worked on building on the defensive base we have, to get a proper attack going like we had in the beginning of the season.

"The Highlanders are obviously a good team, but we do believe they are beatable."

@rugby365com