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Sharks can afford to keep an unchanged line-up for their Super Rugby clash against the Waratahs

The upturn of winning in a difficult place like Canberra means the Sharks can afford to keep an unchanged line-up for their Super Rugby clash against the Waratahs at King's Park on Saturday.

It's the kind of continuity and stability the Sharks are not accustomed to but having seen off the harder part of their season‚ it could be the sign of better things to come.

Sharks coach Robert du Preez knows this is a luxury that will not come very often‚ even though the Waratahs are the strongest Australian outfit they will come up against.

“The Lions are a good side and I don't think the Waratahs were great at Ellis Park‚" De Preez said.

"But I'm not too sure any team would have been great at 3pm in the heat on the Highveld.

"They certainly will be targeting this game.

“We'll be focusing on the things we can do better but we know the first two games were very physical and that surprised us a bit.

"I know the Waratahs will be the same because they have a tough pack and with Michael Hooper‚ they will be difficult to deal with at the breakdown.

"They also have some special players in Nick Phipps and Israel Folau.

"It's hard to say how they will play because they're a bit of a closed book.”

Sharks captain Pat Lambie hopes his forwards will be able to step up in the manner in which they did in Canberra after their chastening experience in Brisbane‚ where they lost their season-opener against the Reds.

While the Sharks were expected to win at least one of their two matches‚ it was their never-say-die attitude that saw Lukhanyo Am score the winning try with the last move of the match.

The players credited Lambie to play on when the draw was on offer but Lambie was quick to deflect that praise.

“There was a big focus in the week leading up to the Brumbies game that we play right up to the death.

"We wanted to finish the tour on a good note because we were disappointed with how we'd played against the Reds‚ let alone the result.

"To play right until the death and score the try was amazing‚” Lambie said.

“Hopefully we have more celebrations like the ones we had at the end of that match but a win like that is huge for
any group because we have a lot of young faces.

"If you come out of those tight matches that go down to the wire‚ it does a lot for your confidence for the rest of the season.”

Sharks: 15 Clement Poitrenaud‚ 14 Kobus van Wyk‚ 13 Lukhanyo Am‚ 12 Andre Esterhuizen‚ 11 Lwazi Mvovo‚ 10 Patrick Lambie (captain)‚ 9 Cobus Reinach‚ 8 Lubabalo Mtembu‚ 7 Jean-Luc du Preez‚ 6 Philip van der Walt‚ 5 Ruan Botha‚ 4 Stephan Lewies‚ 3 Coenie Oosthuizen‚ 2 Franco Marais‚ 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle‚ 17 Thomas du Toit‚ 18 Lourens Adriaanse‚ 19 Jean Droste‚ 20 Jacques Vermeulen‚ 21 Michael Claassens‚ 22 Jeremy Ward‚ 23 Curwin Bosch. - TMG Digital

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