The Sharks have finally welcomed their Springbok stars back, and hope to revive their season starting with their Champions Cup match against Saracens.
A slew of star players are returning to franchise action in the Champions Cup for the Sharks against Saracens on Saturday, and are eager to turn the ship around after a disastrous start to their season.
The Sharks currently have one win, one draw and five losses to their name so far, which sees them languishing at 14th on the United Rugby Championship (URC) log, while a fringe team was hammered 56-19 by Stade Toulousain in their Champions Cup opener in France over the past weekend.
They will thus be grateful to have players such as Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, Andre Esterhuizen, Bongi Mbonambi, Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Grant Williams and Edwill van der Merwe back in the team for their crucial clash against the English Premiership side.
Captain Esterhuizen
Esterhuizen, who will captain the team in his 100th international game for the Sharks, admitted that the senior Bok players have chatted amongst themselves about what will be needed to turn their season around, now that they are back with the franchise and can give their full focus to the team over the rest of the season.
“Previously we had two weeks here (with the Sharks, between the end of the Rugby Championship and start of the November internationals), which is not a lot (of time). But everyone is now back fully after a week’s rest,” said Esterhuizen.
“We have spoken (about the current situation the team is in), and we as the leadership group have chatted about how we want to turn things around. We want the players to take more responsibility and keep ourselves accountable, to get the team back on the right track.
“So all our focus and energy is going into that now, just to turn things around and build a bit of momentum over the next couple of games.”
It has not just been problems on the field that the Sharks have had to contend with, as coach John Plumtree has vacated his post to take a backroom role at the union, while Currie Cup coach JP Pietersen has stepped up into the head coaching role, with the Saracens game his first in charge.
A lot has happened
“A lot has happened since we (the Boks) were away. Everyone is focused on the same task, getting us back to where we should be,” explained Esterhuizen.
“This weekend’s game is a big one, and that’s all we are looking at. Whatever happens, we know we must play our best.
“We’ve all been in situations where our backs are against the wall, but we’re not looking at it that way. We see it as our next game. We’ve experienced pressure before, and that could help us heading into this match against the Saracens.”
Esterhuizen added: “We’ve had a few good days of training. It has been very hot in Durban, but the boys have worked hard. This is a tough Champions Cup fixture, and we want to deliver a team performance as we have in the past. We haven’t been up to scratch this season.
“This is an opportunity to see our game evolve and improve. Each week, we are motivated to play well, and we want the fans to come back and watch us. That is the goal of any rugby team.”
