The Sharks left for New Zealand early Monday morning. They boarded the plane carrying the hopes of their countless supporters, and the hopes of the nation on their shoulders. According to most naysayers, they might have well forfeited the match and stayed at home.

We have heard the same comments and mumblings before, remember when the Sharks left for the overseas leg of their tour? “No chance, they will never beat the Crusaders in Christchurch”

In week 14 of the season on the 17th of May they not only beat the Crusaders in Christchurch, they beat them playing with 14 men for 54 minutes after Jean Deysel was sent off for stamping.

Just to make it even more remarkable, they lost Willem Alberts in the 64th minute to a yellow card as well. 13 men against 15, yet the scoreboard read Sharks 30 Crusaders 25 at full time.

That the Shark’s players are tired is something that we have heard often enough this year. Before, during and after the June tests we have heard this, from the players, from Jake White and from the supporters. Yes, there are some tired players, but why do we hear how tired they are only after a loss? When they lost to the Stormers earlier the season, they were tired. Weeks later, after more Super Rugby matches and 4 test matches, they beat the same Stormers, this time away at Newlands, yet then they weren’t tired.

Surely they should have been even more tired? Did they look tired when their forwards absolutely smashed the Highlanders on Saturday? It sure didn’t look that way.

We will hear how if one is to combine the game time in Super Rugby with the workload during the June internationals, Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis, Stephan Lewies, Marcel Coetzee, Beast Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis have all played more than 1,000 minutes in 2014. These are the men who will be expected to out-muscle an All-Blacks laden pack at the scrum, and knock the Crusaders back at the gainline.

Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis, Lewies and Coetzee have all played more than 1,000 minutes in Super Rugby alone. By comparison, their opponents have just one forward, namely Sam Whitelock, who has gone past the 1,000-minute mark for his franchise in 2014.

Did all these minutes detract from them scrumming the Highlanders into the ground? Should the Crusaders lament the fact that their players haven’t had as much game time as the Sharks? That they are not as match fit or match ready? All those minutes count for nothing, the only minutes that count are the 80 that will be played on Saturday.

The Shark’s game plan revolve around forward domination and structured play, milking penalties by using their forwards. They are up against an All Black scrum this weekend, it’s not going to be as easy to dominate the Crusaders as they did the Highlanders. If they don’t, will fatigue be blamed or will there be acceptance that they came up against a pack just as good as they are?

McCaw, Read and Carter should all be back for the Crusaders, but they are lacking game time, as opposed to the Sharks having played too much. If the Sharks win again, will the Crusaders be justified in complaining that they were undercooked? If the Sharks lose, will they be justified in complaining that they were overplayed?

The Sharks team of 2014 have the players to win the Super Rugby, they have been playing winning rugby for most of the year, they need to do the same for two more matches. There shouldn’t be excuses of fatigue should they lose, just like there’s no mention of fatigue if they win.