High-flying Sharks eyeing further improvement

Cape Town - After maximum log points from two outings and two points clear of the second placed Crusaders, the Sharks find themselves at the top of the Super Rugby table.

It is still early days, but assistant coach Jaco Pienaar has told the Sharks website that he is delighted with what the side has delivered in the early stages of the campaign. 

"We are settling in nicely in the competition and the boys are feeling great," said Pienaar in the lead-up to the Stormers match at Kings Park this Saturday.

"We know there is still room for improvement, but at this stage, we’re very happy with where we are.

"For us, those improvements are all about understanding what we want to achieve and keeping to the plan for 80 minutes."

The plan for the men in black this season seems to be to combine an uncompromising forward pack with an exciting backline.

"The platform is laid up front and the forwards needs to work hard there to give the backs quality ball so that we can play some rugby," Pienaar explained.

"One of our strengths at the Sharks is that we have really physical players, a big pack of forwards with powerful backs and it’s all about getting the gain-line momentum going and the little things right."

After losing heavily to the Bulls (40-3) in the opening round, the Stormers hit back against the Lions this past weekend, winning 19-17.

There is no denying the quality in the Cape side and they will look to string together two good performances in a row.

"They have great players, this is a special team and they will always be tough opposition when they pitch so we know we can expect anything from them," says Pienaar.

"They’re similar to us in that they have powerful forwards with a great backline that can score from anywhere. They’re a well-rounded team that plays good rugby."

A third successive win would do great service to the Sharks cause, but log matters aside, it’s all about the performance and building continuity in play and momentum in results.

"We have a few small things we need to fix, we know we can improve from the Blues game so that’s our focus," said Pienaar.

Kick-off is 17:15.