Sharks bank on April for Chiefs clash

Entering round nine of the Southern Hemisphere showpiece, the Chiefs top the New Zealand conference. Having secured five bonus points this season, the Waikato outfit are one point ahead of the Crusaders after a nail-biting win over the Hurricanes last weekend.

The Sharks watched that match with great interest after their own victory over the Highlanders. Getting one over the reigning Super Rugby champions was no mean feat and it will stoke the fire of belief in the Sharks camp that victory in New Plymouth is achievable.

The Hurricanes unveiled a chink in the Chiefs armour last weekend by getting stuck into the Waikato pack. Saved perhaps by uncontested scrums, the Chiefs had to hold on to the final whistle to secure victory and Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold plans to to target them at scrum time.

“It was a great game of rugby, absolutely magnificent to watch. What you do learn is that there are a lot of points out there and when you look after the ball and build pressure there are opportunities that will arise," Gold said.

“The one thing you’ve got to be able to do against New Zealand teams is look after the ball and build pressure. There could be some opportunities at scrum time as well. We put a lot of work into that area and there were some pleasing performances from that point of view against the Highlanders." 

As much as the Sharks will look to capitalise on the Chiefs’ shortcomings, Gold was quick to stress that they are up against one of the top teams in the tournament.

“We must be honest and say we are playing the best team in New Zealand, the Chiefs are quite rightly the number one team here. We will stay grounded knowing what a tough task it will be. With the form they are in now, and the form of some of their players, we’re going to have to go in understanding that if we make mistakes at crucial times they are a team that will hurt us.”

The Durban outfit will take confidence from their impressive defensive record this season. The Sharks have made the most tackles this season, according to the Vodacom Super Rugby stats app. That in turn has led to the Sharks having made the most turnovers this year as well.

Gold has admitted that attack is still a work in progress but if they can turn those turnovers into points, the Sharks could well turn their season around.

“The area of concern is around the fact that we don’t want to be defending that much. We want ball in hand, we want to ask questions and I think we had just under 70 rucks on the weekend and we got through some good phases. There were some good passages of play where we picked up penalties and hurt them.

“It’s more about what we’d like to improve on and that is getting the balance between defence and attack right. When the opportunities arise, we want to take them and put different types of pressure on opposition, not only on defence.”

Garth April may be the cog missing in the Sharks attacking arsenal. The 25-year-old flyhalf earned his first start last week and gave the Sharks a more refined attacking edge. Besides his educated boot, April distributed the ball well – something the Sharks will want to continue doing with a Springbok back three waiting out wide.

“His goal-kicking was outstanding and that will give him confidence. I think he ran the game beautifully and his passing game was magnificent. He’s a brave little bugger in that 10 channel and made his tackles,” Gold said.

“A guy like Joe Pietersen has played so much rugby; he’s such a legendary stalwart. But he’s not getting any younger and it was important for us to mix it up a little.

“I think Garth has got something, another edge to him and something that will assist us with our attacking game as well. As time goes on, hopefully he will grow in confidence. I’m hoping in the bigger picture of where we are that this is exciting stuff. Using him, Willie and Andre as first receivers on the left and right hand sides is quite a powerful weapon for us.” 

The Sharks face the Chiefs on Friday morning. Kickoff is at 09h35.

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