Africa-Press – South-Africa. Budding Sharks loose-forward Phendulani ‘Phepsi’ Buthelezi said they’re ready to put up an 80-minute performance when they face Leinster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday.
The Sharks may have won their early fixtures against Zebre and the Dragons, but they were far from convincing in both games.
Leinster has won all their three opening matches without having to be at their best, which means the Sharks will have to shed their profligacy to meet the Leinster challenge.
“We’ve had a look at the reason behind the dips in our performances,” said the 23-year-old.
“There are a few technical things we’ve been getting wrong and I think we’ve addressed them.
“I hope that this coming weekend, we’re going to put in a full 80-minute performance.”
Leinster may again look like the best team in the tournament, but how they were dismembered by the Bulls in last season’s semi-finals means any of the South African teams can fancy themselves against them.
Buthelezi knows they’re not the Bulls of last season, but they also have faith in their ability to topple the Irish powerhouse side.
Play their best team
“It does give us a lot of confidence, especially knowing what we can achieve as a group,” Buthelezi said.
“We know our potential and we haven’t even come close to it, so we’re looking forward to going out and executing our plans.
“It’s a matter of us going out and executing, but we believe that we don’t just have a squad to win this game, but the competition.”
The Sharks are still without their Bok contingent as they returned to training on Monday, but this isn’t of much concern for Buthelezi.
“It’s exciting for us as players and we want to play their best team,” Buthelezi said.
“We want to play the best team they can put out there. There’s a massive challenge that awaits us on Saturday, but one that we’re looking forward to.
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“We’ve got so much depth in our squad that any squad we put out can go out there and compete.
“We’re without some of our Springboks, but I don’t think that’ll affect us in any way. We need to perform when getting a chance in the Sharks jersey.
“They may have their internationals and we’ll be without ours, but that doesn’t mean much. We want to give it our all and perform.”
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