Sharks to feast on Stormers' weaknesses
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: The Sharks are confident they can expose the Stormers’ weaknesses in their Round Seven showdown at Kings Park on Saturday.
The Sharks are currently sitting at the top of the overall Super Rugby standings with five wins from their six games so far.
Since Sean Everitt has taken over, the Durbanites have become a more consistent side on the field with players seemingly performing with more confidence.
Their upcoming game against South African Conference rivals the Stormers should provide the Sharks with a sterner test than what they have faced over the last few weeks.
However, Sharks’ attack coach David Williams believes that his players will find a way to make the Capetonians crack under pressure.
“Every game has been different and in each one, we’ve found a point of pressure to get a result – whether it’s kicking over the top, the driving maul, or kicking ball away and putting pressure and earning turnovers.
“So, in this game, it’s about finding that point of pressure early and then looking to exploit that,” he said.
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Winning rugby games isn’t simply about scoring more points, but doing the little things right and exploiting pressure so that the parts are greater than the sum of the performance.For the Cell C Sharks, Monday was a day of putting the feet up, although that’s not to say there wasn’t any rugby preparation. Managing the players’ workload is an integral part of a team’s planning and given the demands on the bodies over the last six weeks, Monday was given over to more cerebral matters rather than another physical effort.Full article: bit.ly/3cWpKrU#OurSharksForever
Posted by The Sharks on Tuesday, 10 March 2020
The Stormers have lost key players (Pieter-Steph du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi and Siya Kolisi) during the season, but the Sharks will not be falling into the trap of underestimating their opponents.
“The DNA of a team pretty much stays the same regardless of who steps into the position although your top players do have an enormous influence in the game model.
“We know they will bring a quality squad and we will be up for a good challenge,” Williams added.
While the Sharks are coming off an impressive 33-19 win over the Jaguares, the Stormers had a bye in Round Six after losing 14-33 to the Blues at Newlands the week before.
“When you do get a performance like that when you don’t get what you want, it sharpens your senses around where you want to go with your game.
“And they [Stormers] have plenty of confidence from winning the previous games, so it’s going to be a great challenge,” said Williams.
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