As the Vodacom United Rugby Championship looks set to transition from the pool stages into the knock-out rounds, the Hollywoodbets Sharks have as their main focus, playing the kind of game they know they’re more than capable of producing.
Hollywoodbets Sharks’ flank James Venter talks about the squad’s ambition to produce the perfect 80-minute performance as his team make one last push before hosting a quarter-final at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
But Scarlets lie in wait and as the top Welsh team in the tournament [currently in 6th position], fighting to remain in the top eight as six teams battle it out for the remaining four positions.
Both sides have their ambitions for this match, Scarlets fighting for their season and the Hollywoodbets Sharks aiming for a top three finish before the knock-outs. To say that everything hinges on the outcome of this match for the 46 players featuring in the game is stating the obvious.
“This game against Scarlets could bump us up to third place and every game we play is a step on the road to the final,” Venter explains. “If we get a good win against Scarlets that could see us finish third and put us in better contention to play the sixth-placed finishers [as opposed to finishing fourth and playing the fifth-placed team] which has its obvious benefits.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve slowly but surely started to click so this is a good opportunity for us to run out there and continue that process.”
He admits that there’s a feeling within the team that they’re getting the improvements they’re seeking each week, which is vital at this, the business end, of the tournament.
“Definitely! That’s been a massive focus for us, with a lot of players suffering injuries, out for a while then joining again and the squad settling, we’re at a good place now.
“We were a bit slow to start but in our second 40 against Ulster we played some great rugby, and there were passages in last week’s game against Ospreys where we built massive phases, played good attacking rugby, we controlled the transitional aspects of the game, all better than we have been in previous outings.
“These are all things we’ll keep tweaking.”
The Scarlets pride themselves on forcing mistakes through pressure, or turning defence into attack and this is something the Hollywoodbets Sharks have identified as a danger in this game.
“They’re a disruptive team, they come hard at the breakdown looking for turnovers, they counter-ruck and compete at the lineouts as well.
“We’re a team that likes to attack and build multiple phases, and if we want to play our attacking game, we have to be on top at the breakdowns and that’s been a focus for us this week, on our breakdown work.”
Although the team has already qualified and nothing that happens on the weekend could change their host status in the quarter-finals. But motivation is definitely there.
“It’s easy to go out there and try tick boxes, but we still haven’t had the full 80-minute performance we’re working towards,” he points out. “We were close when you look back to the Munster and Glasgow games [in October last year] where we started to find some great form and we want to play an 80 minute game of rugby to the standard we know we can.
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for. We’re one game away from clicking and being a really dangerous side. We’re putting in the hard work and the boys are nailing it. This Scarlets’ match could be that game for us, allowing us that chemistry and fluidity to go into the knock-outs with massive confidence.
“When we deliver an 80-minute performance to our standard and quality, I don’t think there are many teams that could keep up with us. We know that when we hit that game and string that 80-minute performance together, we’re going to be a very, very hard team to beat.”