Sharks circling Cape waters for third win, says Esterhuizen

An upbeat Sharks team will be gunning to build on their red-hot start to the season and notch up a third consecutive win when they face the Stormers in a coastal derby in Cape Town on Saturday, Andre Esterhuizen says.

With a capacity 55,000 crowd expected to fill the Cape Town Stadium, the atmosphere will be electric for a clash between two sides loaded with Springbok stars (kickoff 4pm).

A confident Sharks side will arrive in Cape Town with their tails up after wins over the Ospreys and Leinster at Kings Park in Durban.

“I am very excited, and we always look forward to playing in a full stadium, whether it is in Cape Town or in Durban," Esterhuizen said.

"It is going to be a tough one.

"We have to regroup and get back into it after our win over Leinster at the weekend.

“There are still a few chances that we left out there against Leinster.

"A few turnovers at the breakdown, a few knock-ons, myself included, in the 22m that we can sharpen up on.

“But we are building, we are getting there.

"It is the beginning of the season, so I am very happy to start like this, and we can only build on this and get better.”

Esterhuizen said his team's tireless forwards had played a huge part in the sides' early success.

“I know now how hard the forwards work," he said.

"It always starts with them. So, to keep us in the game and give us territory, that is the key thing in Durban.

“Especially in difficult conditions.

"We need to play in the right areas of the field, and they put us in the right positions, and we capitalised on a few chances.”

Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said Sharks head coach JP Pietersen had masterminded a brilliant turnaround for the Durban side after taking over from John Plumtree.

“The Sharks are a quality outfit,” Laker said.

“JP Pietersen has done a phenomenal job with the Sharks.

"Since he took over, they’ve beaten us at Cape Town Stadium, so what he’s done has been phenomenal.

"We have a lot of respect for him, and I don’t think they’ll move off what they’re doing because it’s working for them."

Laker is confident the Stormers’ returning Springboks will slot seamlessly back into the team’s system.

“Most of the guys except Siya Kolisi and Wilco Louw have been with us for a very long time.

"Guys like Zach Porthen, Deon Fourie, Paul de Villiers, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse — they all know the system. I don’t think it’ll be an issue.

“Obviously, we’ve worked on some things in the pre-season which we had identified last season that we can be better at.

"They’re clever rugby players — Springboks for a reason — and I’m 100% sure they’ll get the one or two tweaks we’ve made to our system.

“Obviously, we would’ve wanted to beat Edinburgh last week, but under the circumstances, to get six from a possible 10 log points on tour is not the end of the world."

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