Touring under-strength has made Sharks ready for Loftus

The Cell C Sharks will be without their top Springboks when they clash with the Vodacom Bulls in a key United Rugby Championship derby on Sunday but prop Ntuthuko Mchunu doesn’t believe it will kill their chances of success at Loftus.

On the contrary, Mchunu feels the fact the Sharks undertook their recent three-match tour that started their campaign without the Boks present will count in the coastal team’s favour at a venue where the Durbanites have struggled since Jake White took over as the Bulls’ director of rugby.

“As a team, we did really well in the pre-season and in the early part of the URC campaign when the Boks were away,” said Mchunu.

“As a squad, we feel we have worked hard and really grown in the last while. When we toured together we built up a lot of bonds and partnerships. We won two games and then in the loss to Leinster we showed a lot of fight and character for the game. We felt it was an awesome tour and we are looking forward to building on what we started over there now that we are back home.

“The Boks did play in the first home game against the Glasgow Warriors. They come back they add a lot and also teach us a lot, but I think it works vice-versa too. We feel we have come together as a team and have good combinations playing together and we are really looking forward to taking that spirit into the Loftus game.”

The Sharks have won just once in Pretoria since the Covid lockdown in 2020, which was when White took over from Pote Human as the Bulls’ chief honcho.

In that game, which was the URC league clash in Pretoria in February, the Bulls were stymied by the early loss of experienced flyhalf Morne Steyn to a red card incurred for a dangerous tackle, and even then, the hosts were pushing for the win near the end and managed to dominate possession and territory in the game even though they had a disadvantage in numbers.

So not too much should be read into that clash, but the more recent game was the URC quarterfinal, where the Sharks put up a great fight before losing in agonising fashion to a last-gasp Chris Smith drop-goal.

“I wouldn’t say it is a case of us going there to look for revenge for that result. For us, it is just another game but playing a derby and playing against the Bulls is always a special occasion and we are looking forward to Sunday. South African teams always tend to get up for derbies and I am sure this game will be no different.”

What has been a potential curve ball for the Sharks is the lack of action last weekend because of the postponement of the scheduled fixture against Ulster. Mchunu said that missing out on playing against the Irish team had been bitterly disappointing, particularly as the Sharks’ fan day had been planned around the occasion.

“It was quite shocking news for us when we heard it on Friday as we had prepared really well during the week and were really looking forward to playing the game and the festivities that were planned around it,” said the prop.

“We were also excited about the team we were going to field, with all the Boks back. So it was shocking and disappointing to hear we weren’t going to play. We’d really had such good prep. But maybe that makes us look forward even more to this next game. We have also planned well for the Loftus game and the players will be fresh after missing out last week.

“We know how good the Bulls are, we know how strong they are particularly at home and we also know that they will be up for it. But so will we be up for it. As I said before, when two South African sides come up against each other they always go for it full out.

“Going up there is never easy, but we will take care of what we can take care of and be ready for what is thrown at us. We know we can bring it. They have good players but we have good players too. We have been building our squad depth over the last couple of weeks and we’re really looking forward to what will be another big Loftus occasion.”