Cape Town - The Waratahs insist their showdown with the Sharks at Kings Park will be a different affair to their previous outing against the Lions at Ellis Park.
The ‘Tahs were pummelled 55-36 in Johannesburg last weekend in a game which produced 13 tries.
They scored five tries themselves but were still well beaten at altitude by last year’s Super Rugby runners-up.
This weekend’s clash in Durban is at sea level and the Sydneysiders are hoping to be more competitive against the Sharks, fresh off a morale-boosting last-gasp win over the Brumbies in Canberra.
Waratahs assistant coach Chris Malone admitted that it was tough at altitude last weekend.
“The reality about altitude is that it takes some time to adjust, it feels like it’s hard to get your breath some times. But teams have to do it all the time. Johannesburg has a great stadium and there is plenty that was good about what we did. It doesn’t become a factor, it’s still rugby and we need to do what we’re going to say we’re going to do and that’s what we want to rectify this weekend,” Malone told the Waratahs’ official website.
The ‘Tahs are expecting a different challenge against the Sharks.
“We know the Sharks will offer up what they are traditionally known for. They are playing at home for the first time this year and we know they are going to be physical and we will want to put in a good performance,” Malone continued.
“The concentration for us is really on the Waratahs and how we want to play and make sure we rectify the problems we had last week. We are looking forward to getting the chance to play here in another great stadium and make sure we put in a performance everyone is proud of.
“Different teams provide different opportunities. One thing for certain it will be a different game to what we saw last week.”
Saturday’s clash at Kings Park is scheduled for 19:30.