Pat Lambie receiving attention after tearing his bicep at Loftus

If reports coming out of the Shark’s press conference held today is to be believed, it would seem like the return of Pat Lambie is imminent. According to captain Bismarck Du Plessis, his return against the Highlanders will be a massive lift to their hopes of winning and progressing to the semi finals.

Lambie tore his bicep against the Bulls at Loftus on the 24th of March, and according to early diagnosis it was believed that he might be out for the rest of the Super Rugby season. Lambie has however recovered faster than expected and started traing with the Shark squad a few weeks ago already.

Lambie’s return might not be the only significant piece of good news for the Sharks and their faithful as Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira also looks set to return after injuring his neck during the June test series.

“We have a really good squad, and in most positions we have depth,” hooker Du Plessis told the press ahead of Saturday’s match.

“That really helps us when we get to this stage.”

“We’ll hopefully get Pat and Beast (Mtawarira) back as well, so that also provides a massive lift for the team, and brings a new energy and vibe to the team.”

A further boost to the Sharks camp is the comeback of in-form scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who was a late withdrawal from their recent win against the Stormers while wing or centre JP Pietersen should be cleared to play after a clash of heads with number eight Duane Vermeulen at Newlands last week.

Du Plessis added on his own fitness: “I took quite a bad knock to the neck quite early in the game and it was quite sore.”

“But we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”

And on their Round 11 home loss to the Highlanders, he said: “Against us the last time here their forwards were really physical and were really dominant in the tight loose.

“We really have to be up for the challenge and really need to put our mark of authority over them.”

The Highlanders were the first team to front-up to the Sharks famed physicality and they were soon rewarded as Jake Whites men quickly went off the boil.

The scars from that game are still fresh enough in the Sharks captain’s mind as they prepare to take the Otago men again in a sudden death play-off match.

“Against us the last time here their forwards were really physical and were really dominant in the tight loose,” Du Plessis said.

In typical style, the abrasive forward is now looking to get his revenge by fighting fire with fire, imploring his team to dominate them with authority.

“We really have to be up for the challenge and really need to put our mark of authority over them,” he added.

“I think we let ourselves down with the last two losses, but really just wanted to play good rugby, we took it minute-by-minute and the guys really responded very well,” Du Plessis said.

“We’ve played well throughout the season. I think we let ourselves down thrice through the year, we weren’t happy with that.”

“I won’t say I was surprised, I was almost expecting that from the guys to really respond well.”

Du Plessis revealed he was on the road to recovery after taking a blow to his neck against the Stormers.

“I took quite a bad knock to the neck quite early in the game and it was quite sore,” he said.

“But we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”