Sharks are right to ignore Exeter’s lowly log position

For the Hollywoodbets Sharks players this Saturday’s opening Investec Champions Cup group game against Exeter Chiefs in Durban is like a rewind of what they were experiencing in the buildup to last week’s game against the DHL Stormers - everyone sees them as favourites.

Just as the Stormers were written off in some quarters because they were in a lowly 13th position on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log, so the visitors from England will be cast as underdogs because of what has gone before this season.

Seven games played in the English Gallagher Premiership, seven defeats.

Last place out of 10 in their primary league as they head to Hollywoodbets Kings Park.

Is that a record to suggest they stand a chance against a side brimming with current Springboks?

Well, probably not. Yet, just like the Stormers’ record was deserving of more analysis, and in that case the game was also a derby, which brings a different animal out of the starting blocks when it comes to the Stormers, there are good reasons to look beyond Exeter’s log position.

For a start, they have played most of the season without their kingpin, England centre Henry Slade, who plays much of his rugby for Exeter at flyhalf.

Secondly, their last two results haven’t been in keeping with what went before - they thrashed Gloucester, yes the same Gloucester that the Sharks beat in last year’s Challenge Cup final, and scored five tries in the process.

And in their most recent game they pushed the Premiership log leaders, Johann van Graan’s Bath, all the way.

They lost 19-15 but by all accounts pushed their opponents, who were playing at home at the Rec.

With Immanuel Feyi-Waboso also returning on the wing to further bolster the Chiefs’ England representation, the Chiefs were reportedly a lot more threatening than they have been.

By the way, Welsh born Feyi-Waboso has been one of England’s best players in this calendar year but we did not get to see him play against the Boks because of injury.

SHARKS WELL ACQUAINTED WITH VERMEULEN

There were a clutch of additional players who returned to action after being out for a while at the Rec, and the side that lost by just four points was led by someone the Sharks should know quite well.

Flanker Jacques Vermeulen spent several seasons at the Sharks before he left for overseas.

All of this, plus what they have seen in analysing the Chiefs ahead of their Champions Cup kick-off, has led the Sharks to prepare for a tough challenge on Saturday.

“We actually think Exeter are a top quality side, we have been analysing them and have come to the conclusion that they are a really good team,” said Sharks loose-forward Phepsi Buthelezi.

“They like to play ball in hand rugby and are good at it. They are a well coached team with lots of really good players. We are not looking at their recent form, at the results that haven’t gone their way, because we know that doesn’t tell the full story of how good they are. We know we are in for a massive challenge on Saturday and that is what we are preparing for.”

For the Sharks it will be their first appearance in the Champions Cup since they lost the away quarterfinal to Toulouse the season before last. In 2023/24 they were consigned to the EPCR Challenge Cup because they did not make it into the more prestigious European competition through the conventional route of doing well in the URC.

But the Challenge Cup triumph was their lifeline and while this is a different competition with different teams as opponents, Buthelezi believes the much improved form the Sharks have shown in the URC this year has put them in a good place to kick off well in the Cup competition.

“We have done well in the URC just recently and while this is a different competition featuring teams from different countries to the ones that compete in the URC, we are taking that form as a confidence booster,” said the former national age-group captain.

He is aware though that things can change quickly, and doesn’t appear to have forgotten the chastening experience of the unexpected big defeat to Benetton at the end of their URC tour in October.

“After that disappointing last game on tour a lot of us Sharks players not in the Bok setup had some very honest conversations with each other. We have looked at what we want to achieve, and assessed what we stand for. The results have gone for us in the URC and we will continue to strive to push our standards to get better.

“There are some really good leaders in the squad and they have picked it up,” he added.

The Sharks team for the Exeter game will be announced on Friday.