The Emirates Lions will not underestimate the Hollywoodbets Sharks in their United Rugby Championship match at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday at 15:00 (SA Time).
Forwards coach Barend Pieterse said at a media conference on Tuesday that although the Emirates Lions are placed several places higher than the Hollywoodbets Sharks who are bottom of the log.
“Had we won our two previous games against the Bulls, I probably would have said yes, one can be a little complacent. But where we are in the season, we definitely cannot be complacent. We had two great training days this week and we also trained well last week.”
“We took a long hard look at our two losses, what we did wrong and also what we did right, because I mean there were some good stuff as well. So no, I don’t believe the coaches or the players are worried about any complacency, because we just aren’t in a position to be."
Pieterse said that although the Hollywoodbets Sharks are struggling they have already started to improve.
“Watching their game against the Stormers the previous weekend, I think they have already gotten better. It’s not a lot of teams that can come back against the Stormers like that.
I think they have already started with an upward curve. It’s going to be a very tough game. You look at who they can pick that is available.
“We can’t just think that it’s going to happen, we can’t just think playing at three o’clock is going to do it for us in the hot weather. It’s definitely not case anymore with any team coming to our side of the world,” he stated.
“It will definitely be a close game in our minds again, the quality team that the Sharks are, and I think we all know, with the quality players they have and with the quality coaching staff they have, they actually should be in a better position at the moment."
