Sharks to deal with ‘disruptive’ Scarlets

Sharks flank James Venter has identified Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe as a breakdown threat ahead of Saturday’s Vodacom URC match at Kings Park.

The Welsh club’s domination of that facet of the game in their 32-19 win against the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend did not go unnoticed in Durban.

“We’ve identified that Scarlets are a disruptive team, whether it’s by hunting breakdowns to get turnovers or counter-rucking,” Venter said on Wednesday.

“We’re a team that likes to attack and build multi-phases, and if we want to play like that we’ve got to be on top of our game at the breakdown.

“They’ve got some good players who are good over the ball, including Marnus. We all know it’s something he’s good at.”

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The Sharks will also come up against coach John Plumtree’s son, Taine, who started at No 8 in Joburg last week.

“Coach Plum is his son’s No 1 supporter, he never misses a game,” said Venter. “It will be a good [loose-forward] battle and we’ve had some good banter this week. This morning, [Plumtree] was showing one or two clips of their defensive efforts, and he said, “There’s a brick wall there so you’ve got to watch out for him”, obviously referring to Taine.

“As a team we’re not too focused on the individuals, but on Saturday we’ll definitely make him aware that we know who he is and won’t hold back.”

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Having already booked a home quarter-final, the Sharks are just one point behind Glasgow, who face table-toppers Leinster in Dublin, and can finish third on the log.

Sixth-placed Scarlets have even more to play for on Saturday, needing a win, or a couple bonus points if they lose, to finish in the top eight.

“This game can bump us up to third, so we’re taking every game now as a step on the road to the final,” said Venter.

“With a lot of players who suffered injuries joining the squad again, the squad is settling. We had a slow start against Ulster [in Belfast] but we played some great rugby in the second half. There were passages of play in last week’s match against Ospreys [in Durban] where we built phases and played good attacking rugby. We also controlled the transitional aspects of the game and the kicking game a lot better than we had in previously outings.

“But we still haven’t had that full 80-minute performance [this season],” he added. “We got close in those Munster and Glasgow games in Durban [last October].

“We want to reach the standard we know we can. I think we’re one game away from clicking and being a really dangerous side.”

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