By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Not even loyal Sharks fans can justify their team’s terrible performance this season, but the Sharks can redeem themselves handsomely when they face Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final on Friday at 9pm at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The road to the final in London has seen some massive wins for the Sharks earlier in the season. They beat Edinburgh by six points and Clermont by a single point, and now they have one more mountain to climb.
The game can go either way. It is one of those where one team (the Sharks) hold all the cards, while the other (Gloucester) can only give it all they’ve got and hope for the best.
We will have to wait for the match to start to find out if the mighty Sharks will bear their teeth or drift like lost sardines.
The Sharks depend on their players, not coaches John Plumtree and Neil Powell, and fortunately, the team seems to be motivated.
Front row Springbok Vincent Koch told Dylan Coetzee of Planet Rugby that the first half of the season does not matter as much as how they recovered in the second half.
“For us, it’s very important,” he said. “We want to walk away and lift the trophy and say it was again for South Africa.”
Gloucester boss George Skivington, of course, highlighted the Sharks’ poor season, but he admits that they have high-profile players.
“They have guys who can do things out of nowhere. From the backline players to Eben Etzebeth and World Cup-winning front-rowers,” said Skivington.
Pictured above: Shark stalwart Eben Etzebeth.
Image source: Sharks Rugby/X
