It’s sink or swim time for the Sharks as Munster Rugby arrive in Durban for a United Rugby Championship final-round shootout on Saturday.
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A roller-coaster marketing campaign has left the Springbok-powered Sharks in eighth place going into the 18th and ultimate spherical of the 2022-23 season.
A bonus-point win in final week’s try-fest in opposition to ninth-placed Benetton gave the Sharks 5 essential log factors and a cushty benefit in points-difference over the Italians.
Though their place in the highest eight is sort of safe, the Sharks are attempting to find higher seeding and the potential of a extra beneficial URC quarter-final matchup.
With Munster arriving on the east coast contemporary from a historic victory over the Stormers in Cape Town, the Sharks will want the ability of their full contingent of Springboks.
Leading the best way for the lads from Durban is Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi, who has assumed the membership captaincy since coming back from a pre-World Cup coaching camp.
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Even although worldwide commitments have restricted Kolisi to simply 5 appearances this season, he has made his affect felt in each single a kind of video games.
The Sharks have misplaced simply one of many 5 URC video games that he has performed in – away to Scarlets in March.
With the Sharks unable to safe a house play-off, Saturday’s recreation would be the inspirational free ahead’s final at Kings Park earlier than he joins French giants Racing 92 subsequent season.
However, Munster will likely be in no temper to hand Kolisi a successful farewell.
The Irish membership quelled the Stormers in Cape Town to turn out to be the primary workforce to take a full home of factors away from Stadium since December 2021.
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The final time Munster had been in Durban was for the Champions Cup spherical of 16, after they had been manhandled by the Sharks in a 50-35 loss.
“It will be a tricky one because we played them three weekends ago and they would have learnt from that experience,” mentioned Sharks director of rugby, Neil Powell.
“But the beauty is that it’s in our hands. How we approach the game and what we want out of it is in our hands.”
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Munster head coach Graham Rowntree didn’t paper over how upset his expenses had been with their efficiency in their earlier go to to Kings Park, including that they may take loads of confidence from how significantly better they had been in opposition to the Stormers.
“We had frank conversations after that game against the Sharks,” mentioned Rowntree. “They taught us a couple of classes on the breakdown and set-pieces, and we knew we might have to up our recreation there earlier than going through the Stormers.
“The efficiency in opposition to the Stormers… that confirmed that we are able to beat groups like this. The South African sides are historically the ability groups, and we’ve quite a lot of respect for a way they play.
“I’m immensely proud of the way we started, and the way we stayed in the fight at the end.”
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