Sharks loose-forward Phepsi Buthelezi said they are determined to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup Top 16 when they face Bordeaux Begles in a Round Four match of the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday at 15:00 (SA Time).
"We’re all in a really good space. Our goal for this week is pretty simple. We want to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup round of 16."
“We were gutted after last week's loss against Toulouse at home. We don’t like losing at home, we don’t like losing in a Sharks jersey, but we felt like we had enough opportunities last week for us to be able to put that game away."
“But we’ve turned over a new page now, we’re looking forward to getting stuck into training this week.”
"We know that we’ve got our work cut out for us, Bordeaux is a quality side.”
“They’re going really well in the Top 14 and the Champions Cup. Last season they came up short in the Champions Cup, so they will want to rectify that.
"They lost their home Investec Champions Cup quarter-final to Harlequins last season and will want to rectify that."
“They’ve scored a lot of tries in their last five or six games so we know that, defensively, we will have to roll up our sleeves.”
As the final weekend beckons ahead of the four knock-out stage rounds, many of the 24 elite clubs [including the Hollywoodbets Sharks] – eight each from the Gallagher Premiership, URC and TOP 14 – in four pools of six will all be fighting for the knock-outs with the four highest-ranked clubs in each pool qualifying for the Round of 16 to take place in early April.
“We’re looking forward to making all our supporters proud, making ourselves proud and making sure we get that knock-out qualification,” he added.
“It’s a very important week for the club and the province of KZN and we’re all geared towards that goal and achieving what we’ve set out for this week.”