Hollywoodbets Sharks’ hooker Bongi Mbonambi expects a physical forward battle and is focused on stopping the DHL Stormers' potent driving maul in the United Rugby Championship (URC) match on Saturday at 19:30 (SA Time).
Mbonambi anticipates a tough, physical South African derby, emphasising that these matches are traditionally decided in the forwards.
“The Stormers are performing well this season in both competitions. They’ve got depth, they’re well-coached, and they’ve got a good squad,” he noted.
"He identified the Stormers' driving maul as a "massive weapon" and mentioned the Sharks have done their homework and are prepared to counter it effectively.
“I think the whole of South Africa knows how good the Stormers are at mauling. It's not just this season; they’ve done it for several years, and it’s a massive weapon for them.”
“Their maul is a big weapon for them; they have really weaponised their maul, so we must get the detail right to combat that threat in Saturday’s game.”
We have watched the video clips, and we know they have that weapon. But we also have a strong mauling weapon, and it boils down in the end to who wants it more. It will be a good old-fashioned derby between two quality teams.”
“We also have a mauling weapon, which we believe in strongly. We put a lot of work into our scrum, our mauling, and our forward play, and I’m sure they do the same.”
Mbonambi praised the well-coached Stormers side for their depth and strong performance this season and expects a high-stakes encounter in the scrums between the Sharks' established internationals and the Stormers' emerging front-row talent, such as Ntuthuko Mchunu.
“It is definitely going to be a big forward battle. We have seen throughout the season that in a derby, people want to put their hands up in their respective positions.”
"There are quite a lot of youngsters coming through who want to make their mark, and it comes down to the preparation you do during the week and the execution on the day.”
"Mchunu is a phenomenal, explosive scrummager. We saw in the past few games how he came off the bench and made a massive impact. He's one of the guys that we're definitely analysing and obviously analysing their whole pack to make sure that our work is done in the week and to make sure once the weekend comes there's no surprises."