Leighton Koopman
They’ve set themselves a target of reaching and winning the European Challenge Cup final, but Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi warned they’ll have to take baby steps in their bid for glory.
That is why focusing on Saturday’s quarter-final against a “more ready” Edinburgh at Kings Park (kick-off 1.30 pm) is of utmost importance before they can think of progressing to the next round.
Currently, their dominance in the Challenge Cup is a panacea to the woes of their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign and their winning run in the knockout tournament has been the light in an otherwise dark season of losses.
But, according to Mbonambi, the road to the final won’t be easy as they will face a stronger and more prepared Edinburgh this time around in Durban. The previous time the two sides met in the URC, the Sharks won 23-13 in front of their supporters.
While the Sharks can throw all their fit players into their bid to reach the semis, the Scottish club are fighting on two fronts and will have to decide if their strongest outfit will run out in the Challenge Cup knockout match, and again a week later in the URC as their continue their top-eight fight in Scotland.
The Sharks are on a three-game winning run at home and will complete a fourth if they prevail over an Edinburgh side coached by their former boss, Sean Everitt.
“The fact that it is a quarter-final in a whole different competition makes it more difficult,” said Mbonambi.
“We know they will come here even better prepared than before. They will play a better team. We noticed last time that they were missing a couple of their key players. They just came back from the Six Nations, so they will be fresh and more challenging this time around, especially with a coach like Sean Everitt. He knows how to prepare a team to come here. They are going to come back stronger.”
According to Mbonambi, the short turnaround time between Sunday’s 47-3 Challenge Cup triumph over Zebre and Saturday’s clash will make it even more difficult.
But if they keep things simple, and every player buys into the plan, they can go out there and deliver.
“We have to look at ourselves. We must make sure we know our roles and believe in the system and plan. Playing at home also gives us a bit of an advantage.
“The mood in the camp is quite good. All the injured players who are coming back, you can see the difference they make. The road to the final won’t be easy. All we can do is focus on the next game and not look too far forward.”