Sharks expect wounded Lions to come back strong

Sharks flyhalf Robert du Preez has been a key string puller in a side who are finding their Currie Cup stride and with a wounded Golden Lions looming‚ much will be expected from him.

The Sharks have seen off the Pumas‚ Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs but the hosting of the Lions at King’s Park on Saturday will ask different questions of them.

The Golden Lions also started well but had their pride massively punctured by a strong Western Province.

It’s not often the Lions concede 60 points at home but that was the case against Province. Du Preez‚ who watched the WP/Lions game as the Sharks were off last week‚ said the Golden Lions are still a dangerous team despite the home shock they received against the defending champions.

“Western Province did a lot of good things in their game against the Golden Lions but the Lions also scored a lot of tries‚” Du Preez said.

“They’re a team who know how to score tries and we all know that so we have to be wary of that. They function well off turnover ball so we’re going to have to look after the pill [ball].

“It’s never nice being beaten so I can only imagine that the Golden Lions will come hard this weekend but regardless of the result‚ they still would have been a difficult side so we’re really looking forward to their challenge this weekend.”

The Sharks may have collected a full house of log points from their wins but are wary of peaking too early in the tournament.

The Sharks were the form side in last season’s two-round format but when it counted in the playoff stages they faltered and lost a home final to a Western Province side that Du Preez featured in.

Du Preez said peaking at the right time is important for them but they also need to be patient with the tournament contenders all starting to make their considerable presence felt.

“We haven’t clicked yet but we’ve got a full house of points and that’s really good. We can’t ask for much more than that.

“Hopefully we peak at the right time instead of peaking now. We’ve got the Golden Lions then we’ve got Western Province and the Griquas away. Those are three big games and obviously we’ll look to win all three but it’s about peaking at the right time‚” Du Preez said.

“We’re a young team that wants to play an exciting brand of rugby and that comes with consequences.

“It’s going to come with errors. We’re a team that offloads a lot and with that‚ there are going to be turnovers. If we can be a bit more patient‚ we’ll be fine.”