DURBAN - For the Sharks, Saturday’s home match against the Bulls is about way more than Currie Cup points. It is personal, according to Thomas “The Tank” du Toit, who says his team is hurting after two big defeats in Pretoria.
The Sharks lost heavily to the Bulls in the SuperFan Saturday match that celebrated the resumption of rugby and then a month later got another Loftus hiding in Super Rugby Unlocked.
“It hurts when you get 40 points put on you by the same team in quick succession, especially if you feel that you let yourselves down by not playing to the best of your ability,” Du Toit said.
“So yes, we feel we owe them one. We want to rectify matters …”
But in the same breath, Du Toit praised the Bulls for the ruthlessness with which they thrashed the off-colour Sharks.
“It shows the quality of the Bulls that when they come up against a team that is underperforming, they can nail you with two or three quick tries and suddenly you are facing a big loss,” the 136kg giant said.
“So being at our best is vital. It is an absolutely massive game for us. As always with the Bulls since lockdown, you automatically feel in your preparations that you have to really up your game because - let’s give credit where it is due - they have been playing unbelievable rugby.
“Even with 14 men (in two of their games) they produce the goods.”
Last week, the Cheetahs were level with the Bulls at half-time only to end up losing by 30 points. Taking your foot off the pedal proves fatal.
“That is something we have discussed at length,” Du Toit said.
“It has to be a complete performance otherwise they sense blood and they have the killer instinct to bury you. So our goal is to give a flatout, 100 percent performance for 80 minutes.”
Naturally, it all starts with the big guys up front when you are playing the Bulls, and Du Toit says he and his fellow front rankers will not be shrinking violets.
“Getting parity upfront as a minimum is a vital part of this week, and we will be emptying the tanks,” Du Toit said.
“Their front row has been dominant, but this week we need to outscrum, out-maul, out-ruck and out-lineout them. That is the message for us.”
@MikeGreenaway67