Siya Kolisi scored against the Lions in the last URC match the Sharks played.
Image: Backpagepix
For Sharks forward coach Philip Lemmer, an advancing scrum is a “thing of beauty” because it requires eight players to work in perfect unison.
Even better for Lemmer is seeing a backline player accelerating through a gap and scoring a try thanks to the space created by front-foot ball from the forwards.
As he says, “The forwards are like parents that must provide food for their children.”
But Lemmer, a former prop and professional wrestler, knows the other side of the coin and says it was painful to experience a heavy defeat a few weeks ago at Ellis Park, his home ground before he joined the Sharks.
He is speaking of the Lions’ big win in the first leg of a home-and-away mini-series with the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
“At Ellis Park the Lions were more desperate than us. They had the desire to beat us and they did,” he said, ahead of the Sharks home game against Zebre this Saturday.
“The standard of the URC is so high that if you are only at 85 percent of your potential, you are going to get beaten. You must be at 95-to-100% of your best at every single action of a match.
“If you are a back and you are not quite there, it could cost your team seven points. If you are a tighthead prop, you will go backwards and the team will pay. You have to give your best from whistle to whistle.”
Lemmer says a “change in behaviour” resulted in the Sharks turning the tables on the Lions a week later.
“As soon as one team drops off by a few percent and the other team goes up by a few you are going to get a 20 to 50 point swing. Top level rugby is about small margins and when you are on the wrong side of those margins, the score can be brutal.
“We would never underestimate Zebre,” he said ,of the Italian team that last year ended a four-year losing streak by beating the Sharks.
“Zebre have beaten good teams this season. They beat Munster, they lost by a point to the Lions and by one point to Benetton.
“There is only six points separating them from eighth place and therefore a place in the play-offs. If they pick up two wins they are in the playoffs, so they are hungry. One or two results would change their log position quickly.”
Lemmer added that the Sharks are now venturing into the vital business end of the URC.
“The next few URC games are gold for us,” he said, of the imminent games against Zebre and Leinster.
“How we go in the next six weeks will decide whether or not we have a home play-off. We know that our games in Durban are difficult for the visitors if we bring our A game because the conditions are unique.
“We are used to the heat and the humidity. We train in those conditions but it will be different when we travel to our upcoming games in Edinburgh and Ulster. We can definitely win those games but we certainly can’t drop our home games,” he concluded