Charl McLeod and Pat Lambie celebrating the Currie Cup victory in 2013. Will they be celebrating with the Super Rugby trophy in two weeks time?
The return of Pat Lambie and the arrival of Charl McLeod onto the field in the final 20 minutes of Highlanders game coincided with ‘some of the best rugby’ for the Sharks.
The Sharks late fightback after they twice came from behind in the second half to see off the stubborn Highlanders 31-27 has secured them a semifinal date with the Crusaders.
White was clearly happy with the entire team, but in particular with his reserve halfback pairing.
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“I’m very proud of the way they came back,” White said afterwards.
“I thought the last 20 minutes we played really well.”
“It was some of our best rugby in terms of linking our forwards and backs.”
“As a whole, the bench definitely helped us.”
“There’s no doubt when we get Charl and Pat, senior players that have been there and they understand the pressures.”
It was not only the Director of Rugby that noticed the difference that these two players made.
“Frans himself said to me after the game, when they walked on, he just got a sense of calmness from both of them being around,” White mentioned.
The Sharks have now posted over 30 points in the last two games, over the Stormers and now the Highlanders which will give them great momentum going into the business end of the tournement.
“I think when you get a win like you did last week with 34 points and then 31 against the Highlanders, it’s a great way to take momentum into the last couple of rounds,” White said.
“Ideally you want a comfortable win, but when you get to this stage of the competition, it’s highly unlikely.”
“It’s a great lesson for all the boys here to understand just how tough this knockout stage is.”
“The Highlanders are a quality team, probably the best team in the competition to counter-attack from broken play.”
Victory, though, did come at a cost as lock Anton Bresler was ruled out of the semifinal meeting with the Crusaders in Christchurch next week with a rib injury.
However, fellow second-rower Stephan Lewies, a late withdrawal due to a knee complaint, was likely to be fit.
“I don’t want to jump the gun there, but I know, although we’ll just have to have a look and see,” White added on Bresler.
“At this point Willem [Alberts] has played there, [Stephen] Lewies will be back, [Jean] Deysel was good in this game, so I think we’ll be okay.”