Facing bottom two is no cruise for the Sharks

When they saw the draw for the 2022/2023 Vodacom United Rugby Championship season, the Cell C Sharks would have been forgiven if they did a little jig of delight at their good fortune.

They were set the task of starting out against Zebre Parma, who finished bottom of the log last year, and then following up against the next to bottom team, the Dragons from Wales. Both games were away from home, but that made it seem even better - two easy away wins to start the competition.

But think again. A lot can change in an offseason, and while the Dragons didn’t start well as they slumped to a 44-6 defeat to Edinburgh in the first round, Zebre were much better than expected in their opening game against the formidable Leinster outfit. A late charge nearly saw Zebre, who have had their strength boosted by the arrival of several South African players, pull off a mighty upset.

A mighty upset was what happened the following week, with the Dragons ending a long win drought at their home ground of Rodney Parade in Newport with a shock 23-17 win over the mighty Irish province, Munster. It was the second defeat for Munster, who appear to be taking a while to adjust to life without South African coach Johann van Graan and Springbok centre Damian de Allende, but it was still a seismic shock for the Dragons to do it.

And that was particularly so in a week where the media talk was dominated by speculation over the future of director of rugby Dean Ryan, who was nowhere to be seen at the Dragons headquarters building up to the Munster game. Head coach Dai Flanagan took charge for the first time in the Munster game, and the result was both a resounding morale booster for the Dragons and a dire warning to the Sharks, who face the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Saturday at 8.35pm CAT.

The impact a win like the one scored by the Dragons last weekend cannot be underestimated, and what appeared an easy game for the Sharks suddenly seems much less so, particularly after the Durbanites only just edged home against Zebre in their opening game.

According to fullback Aphelele Fassi, the key to the Sharks being able to survive whatever the Dragons throw at them is to stick to the plan, something he intimated wasn’t the case in their performance in Parma.

“We knew that Zebre were going to come out firing after their match against Leinster and that we had to stick to our plan,” said Fassi.

“Going into this Dragons game, we just need to stick to our plan and try to achieve what we want to achieve.”

The 24-year-old has been playing more of a leadership role on tour due to the absence of key Springboks. It is not known at this point which returning Boks might be available for Saturday, although last week’s shock Dragons result might increase the likelihood of an SOS being sent to some.