Durban — Prior to the Sharks’ departure from Durban two weeks ago, head coach Sean Everitt stated that the team’s goal for the three-match tour was 10 log points out of a possible 15. Having collected five of those points last week in Parma, the Sharks can reach their objective on Saturday night in Newport.
Since the tour concludes next week in Dublin against Leinster, probably the strongest team in Europe, it made more sense for Everitt to focus on wins against Zebre and the Dragons on Saturday night.
Also, prior to departure, the tour appeared to be perfectly balanced in terms of progressive difficulty, with Zebre, the team that finished last in the previous URC, playing the Sharks first, followed by the team that finished second-to-last, the Dragons, and those two games would have prepared the Sharks for the match against Leinster.
Zebre and the Dragons, who finished 16th (dead last) and 15th in the previous edition, respectively, have gathered themselves for the upcoming URC season.
In fact, Zebre came within minutes of pulling off the upset of the century against Leinster in the first round, losing 33-29, and last week they nearly edged out the Sharks (42-37); and the Dragons shrugged off a difficult start in Edinburgh by stunning Leinster’s great rivals, Munster, in Newport last week.
The Welshmen play much better at their historic Rodney Parade in Newport, and the Sharks will be aware that their 52-3 victory over the Dragons at Hollywoodbets Kings Park five months ago is a world away.
Possibly the only takeaway from that game is that the Dragons will be hell-bent on avenging their defeat.
That day in Durban was hot and sticky, but conditions would be completely different tonight (8.30pm kickoff, SA time).
It is predicted to be damp and chilly, but if the Sharks begin the game with the same intensity as they did against Zebre, they should be fine.
Everitt observed from Newport, “The first half was the best 40 minutes we have played in a long time, and we will draw positives from that.”
“However, in the second half we enabled Zebre to gain momentum due to excessive defensive width and a lack of kicking discipline.
“Therefore, the lesson learned from this is that we put ourselves under pressure, which is fixable.
“We were not under pressure in the first half due in large part to the fact that we gave away nearly no penalties, but we allowed seven in the second half, which caused the momentum to shift.”
The Dragons are comprised of 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Will Reed, and 9 Rhodri Williams; 8 Aki Seiuli, 7 Elliot Dee, 6 Lloyd Fairbrother, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Will Rowlands (captain), 3 George Nott, 2 Taine Basham, and 1 Ross Moriarty.
Bradley Roberts 16, Rob Evans 17, Chris Coleman 18, Joe Davies 19, Aaron Wainwright 20, Lewis Jones, Max Clark, and Jordan Williams as substitutes.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, ten Boeta Chamberlain, nine Grant Williams, eight Phepsi Buthelezi, seven Dylan Richardson, six James Venter, five Reniel Hugo, four Justin Basson, three Thomas du Toit (captain), two Kerron van Vuuren, and one Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Subs: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Marnus Potgieter, 21 Cameron Wright, 23 Anthony Volmink