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Flo: Alberts a big threat

Stephen Nell

Cape Town - The physical test is going to be immense, but don't discount the importance of the psychological aspect in Saturday's Super Rugby match between the Stormers and Sharks at Newlands.

Francois Louw, Springbok flank of the Stormers, alluded to it when he was asked what the Stormers could take into the match from their victory in Durban earlier this month.

"The main thing is that we 'pitched' for that game. There was buy-in from all 22 players. We set ourselves the main goal to win and we achieved that," said Louw.

However, the Sharks will be highly motivated to avenge that defeat. Their attacking prowess is highlighted by the fact that they have already scored bonus points for four or more tries on five occasions this year.

Any Sharks supporter will tell you that they had to take on the Stormers in Durban without Patrick Lambie. On top of that they were probably fatigued having first toured Australia and New Zealand, and then going to play the Crusaders in London.

Lambie is back now and the Sharks have built up a good head of steam by beating the Hurricanes 40-24 in Durban.

The Stormers will have to defend well to keep the Sharks' battering rams at bay in the inside channels. Willem Alberts will attack with purpose there and the Sharks will undoubtedly also look to use Jean Deysel as a powerful impact player.

"Willem is definitely a threat. He is their strongest ball-carrier and the Sharks play off him. It's important for us to physically dominate their ball-carriers and make sure they don't make the yards," said Louw.

However, when it comes to defending there is no better team than the Stormers.

The Sharks may be considered South Africa's best attacking unit, but they may well struggle to make headway against a team that has conceded only six tries in eight matches.
 
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