Sharks are working hard on their defence shortcomings and how to put pressure on the Blues back line, how that will be possible  is going to be difficult as we know the Sharks back line lack first time defence and on many occasions it takes more then 1 player to put an apposing team player down.

SHARKS coach John Plumtree has highlighted the Blues’ ability to create line breaks almost at will as one of the major threats that they will need to nullify on Saturday.

The Blues who boast one of the best back lines in the competition, although not always taking advantage of their ability and ascendancy on attack, they have regularly sliced through defences virtually every team they have faced this season.

 “No doubt it’s going to be extremely tough this week, The Blues have the highest number of line breaks in the competition and that pretty much says it all. So defensively we’ll obviously have to be at our best” Coach John Plumtree conceded”.

“They have threats all over the park and man-for-man are one of the most dangerous sides in the competition. Their forwards are playing good rugby, but especially if you look at their back line there are threats throughout.”

Plumtree pinpointed scrumhalf Alby Mathewson, who once again showed his class against the Western Force at the weekend, as did inside centre Luke McAlister and hat-trick hero Joe Rokocoko.

“On attack Plumtree felt the Blues pose a similar threat to the Reds but are a bit more dangerous out wide because of Rokocoko and Rudi Wulf, who are all in good form. When we’ve played the Blues in the past some of these guys have been out of form, but they are looking really good right now and that’s going to make it pretty tough.

However, the Blues’ performances have been most unpredictable this season – their recent results read lost, won, won, lost, won, lost, won, lost, won – and the Sharks will be hoping this contrast from match to match continues this weekend.

Their uncanny tendency to blow hot and cold was exemplified during weeks eight and nine when they stunned the Bulls with a 32-17 victory before being hammered 33-21 against the Stormers the week after.

This unpredictability factor may make it rather tricky for the Sharks to know what to prepare for on Saturday, but the coastal franchise certainly seem to be fully aware of what strengths the Blues have.

“I guess if you look at those two games against South African teams, there certainly were two contrasting performances – against the Bulls they were brilliant but then weren’t quite so good against the Stormers,” Plumtree commented.

“However, they still broke the Stormers’ line quite easily and that’s no mean feat. That’s how good an attacking side they are because the Stormers have been very stingy in terms of conceding line breaks this season.”

The Sharks will also know that if they provide the Blues with opportunities to counter-attack – as they did against the Lions last weekend – that they will be punished.

“We have to be more clinical and patient on attack, we simply can’t turn ball over to these guys,” Plumtree agreed. “If we do that then we’re going to be in real trouble because they’re pretty tough at the breakdown as well. So even though they’re not in the top four at the moment there aren’t too many weaknesses in this Blues team.”

At the moment the Blues lie in seventh spot on the log, just two places above the Sharks, and it should make for an enthralling battle on Saturday as this is once again a must-win match for both teams.

Meanwhile, on the injury front for the Sharks, despite a number of players reporting to training yesterday with injury niggles, Plumtree said there was nothing serious that would threaten the availability of anyone for this weekend.

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