Cape Town - Blue Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter admits it was a "painful" experience to see his team suffer for most part of this year's Currie Cup competition.
He told the Beeld website they used the "pain" as motivation to overcome last week's hurdle in Johannesburg, when the team - boosted by its returning Springboks - thrashed the Golden Lions 50-29 to sneak into the semi-finals after they looked in danger of possibly facing a promotion-relegation battle.
However, they now face more of a physical type of pain as they prepare to face the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
Six players missed training on Monday due to injury niggles. They are: Louis Fouché (shoulder), Flip van der Merwe (shoulder), Potgieter (shoulder), Jacques Potgieter (hamstring), Akona Ndungane (muscle stiffness) and Francois Hougaard (bruised foot).
Team doctor, Org Strauss, said all six are expected to train on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean they'll all be 100% come Saturday.
Especially Potgieter and Fouché - who are both experiencing discomfort with their AC-joint - may struggle to be 100% but the skipper says there's no way he's missing the semi-final.
Coach Pine Pienaar also shared his captain's sentiments, asking for one more push in the Shark tank.
"This is a big week for us. We let a few players rest today (Monday) and only have three field sessions remaining this week.
"If we want to go further, this is the one week where we'll have to play through the pain barrier," said Pienaar.
The clash at Kings Park kicks off at 16:30 on Saturday.
He told the Beeld website they used the "pain" as motivation to overcome last week's hurdle in Johannesburg, when the team - boosted by its returning Springboks - thrashed the Golden Lions 50-29 to sneak into the semi-finals after they looked in danger of possibly facing a promotion-relegation battle.
However, they now face more of a physical type of pain as they prepare to face the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
Six players missed training on Monday due to injury niggles. They are: Louis Fouché (shoulder), Flip van der Merwe (shoulder), Potgieter (shoulder), Jacques Potgieter (hamstring), Akona Ndungane (muscle stiffness) and Francois Hougaard (bruised foot).
Team doctor, Org Strauss, said all six are expected to train on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean they'll all be 100% come Saturday.
Especially Potgieter and Fouché - who are both experiencing discomfort with their AC-joint - may struggle to be 100% but the skipper says there's no way he's missing the semi-final.
Coach Pine Pienaar also shared his captain's sentiments, asking for one more push in the Shark tank.
"This is a big week for us. We let a few players rest today (Monday) and only have three field sessions remaining this week.
"If we want to go further, this is the one week where we'll have to play through the pain barrier," said Pienaar.
The clash at Kings Park kicks off at 16:30 on Saturday.