Sharks positive ahead of crunch Clermont showdown

Being prepared to fight to the death will be a vital asset in the Sharks’ armoury when they face Clermont in a make-or-break Investec Champions Cup clash in Durban on Saturday, says coach JP Pietersen.

The Sharks’ survival in world rugby’s premier club rugby competition depends on them being able to pull off a favourable result against the French outfit at Kings Park (kickoff 3pm).

Their hopes of progressing to the last 16 were jolted when they slumped to a 26-10 defeat against Sale Sharks in Manchester on Saturday. Pietersen named a young, second-string outfit for the game in England who showed their mettle in freezing conditions.

A win over Saracens at Kings Park in the second round of the competition in December has left the Sharks fifth in their pool and one place above Clermont in the standings.

Pietersen said it is not all doom and gloom in the Sharks camp, and he has taken positives out of the Sale defeat ahead of Saturday’s clash against Clermont.

“I’m excited about what this group can give and what they can do,” he said. “There are a lot of positives we can take from this week into the home clash against Clermont.

“I am obviously disappointed we didn’t get the result, but also proud of the boys for fighting for 80 minutes. The boys are making the Sharks jersey proud.

“There was probably a bit of a lack of concentration in that 15-minute period after halftime. Sale scored two quick tries, which gave us a bit of a mountain to climb. We fought back and got the score to 19-10, and you could see there was belief and hope in the group.

“Then there was another moment where they scored again and put it a bit out of our reach. But if you look at the whole game, I asked the group whether we could fight from minute one to minute 80, and they showed that. We played some good rugby.”

Explosive prop Ox Nche said the Sharks would view Saturday’s showdown as a playoff clash.

“The aim is to get maximum points,” he said. “We want to win and hopefully pick up extra points to improve our points difference. We’re going all in and seeing this as a playoff match.

“Clermont play a very expansive game. Even though they’ve got a big French pack, they like to offload and play with tempo. They’ve been very consistent in how they play.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. We need to contain their forwards so their backs don’t get opportunities to shine. It’s our job to play rugby.

“We were used to playing one competition before, and now these competitions require bigger squads and more rotation than we were used to. We have to adapt. I think it will raise the quality of players coming through because more guys get exposure.

“Every team has to find the right balance, make sure they’ve got fresh players, and that everyone is at a similar level.”