Image: Thuli Dlamini
Sharks assistant coach Sean Everitt said an improved Western Province would ask his side serious questions in Saturday's Currie Cup final at Kings Park.
John Dobson's team are the only ones to have beaten the Sharks at home.
That win in October snapped the Sharks' 10-match unbeaten streak.
They bounced back from the 31-20 defeat to beat the Blue Bulls 37-27, setting up another Durban-Cape Town Currie Cup final.
"Western Province have improved over the season. At some stage, they were out of the playoffs but they worked hard to get into second place and get the home semifinal," Everitt said.
"They put in a good and determined effort against the Golden Lions in the semifinal but we can't forget what happened in the first 30 minutes of the game we played against them.
"We were well and truly on top of them in that first half-hour, so that's a positive we'll take from that game, and learn from our lack of energy in the second half. In a final you have to play for 80 minutes and that's our goal."
Everitt confirmed that wing S'busiso Nkosi will miss the final because of a dislocated elbow suffered in the win against the Bulls.
However, the Sharks still have Curwin Bosch, whose unflappable temperament allowed him to slot 17 points with his boot.
Bosch's battle against his coach's son, Province's Robert du Preez Jr, is likely to become the focal point of the final.
"Curwin's definitely got the temperament. Just look at the drop goal in the second half," he said. "That was a good example of that. We were under the cosh at that particular juncture of the game, only up by four points, and Curwin gave us the seven-point buffer.
"He's come on very well this season and we like how he's improved his attacking play. He's always had a good kicking game."