for the Sharks to make it into the playoffs. What do they need to do still? There are 5 matches left for the Sharks as we head into the final part of the competition and when you look at who they will come against you have to agree that they do have a chance to do the improbable and clinch a spot in the semis against all odds.
The Lions, Bulls, Blues, Stormers and Force are the obstacles that lay ahead and the Sharks have a great chance of winning all 5 matches. Let’s take the Lions, their dismal season will no doubt continue and all the teams are looking at them as a walking 5 points. Anything less by the Sharks will be viewed as a major disappointment and I honestly expect the Lions to get a hiding by a rejuvenated Sharks side. Minimum points needed by the Sharks: 5
Next will be the Blues who I believe will cause the Sharks the biggest headache even though they play them at the Shark Tank. The Blues are back to winning ways yet what is in the Sharks favor is that this will be the first Blues game in Africa and the whole flying, jet lag thing might work in the favor of the Sharks. Whatever happens it will be an extremely tough match between the competition’s late bloomers but if the Sharks can pull of a victory here they will go into the Bulls match the week after brimming with confidence.
Minimum points needed by the Sharks: 5
But aren’t the Bulls one of the Log leaders? Yes they are but their last 3 matches they have played they have not looked like a team of champions. Lowly Western Force and the Blues have knocked their wind out and they will find it a tough Australasian tour with the Chiefs and Reds still waiting for them before they take on the Sharks at Loftus. Is it conceivable to think the Bulls will be so battered and bruised that the Sharks will be too much for them? Yes of course it is!
Minimum points needed by the Sharks: 4
The Stormers will then have it all to do as they visit the Sharks at the Shark Tank. At one stage looking like they were going to run away with the competition the Stormers have started to wobble now and they are only halfway into their tour with the Blues, Chiefs and Reds all more than capable of knocking the stuffing out of them. Like the Bulls it could well be that the Stormers are not up to matching a Sharks side who by then would have won 7 matches in a row and with a settled side would be confident enough to believe they could take on a bruised Stormers outfit.
Minimum points needed by the Sharks: 5
It is all going to come down to the final 80 minutes as there will be many teams who will be very close in the hunt come week 14. The Western Force is the most unpredictable of the lot, they started off being the whipping dogs of the Super 14 but have suddenly found some structure and in 6 weeks time when they face the Sharks they could have finally peaked. The Force would have played against the lowly Lions and Cheetahs preceding the Sharks and will be confident of another win, but the Sharks will be home and fighting for every inch cheered on by the partisan supporters.
Minimum point needed by the Sharks: 5
That will now leave the Sharks on a total of 40 points from 8 wins will this be enough? It certainly will be as history shows that since 2006 the team finishing 4th have all recorded 8 wins except the Blues in 2007 who got 42 points from 9 wins other than that anywhere between 38 and 42 points teams have been able to qualify for the playoffs.
Whatever happens it will most likely be the biggest comeback in Super 14 Rugby if the Sharks manage to pull off the improbable if not the impossible. As that great prop forward Albert Einstein once said : “Learn from yesterday, Live for today, but hope for tomorrow”
