With the Hollywoodbets Sharks, DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls all knocked out of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 over the weekend, and the Lions failing to make the knock-outs, the four South African teams now cast their attention to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and the final four rounds before the quarter-finals.
There is so much to play for, given that the fight for a top 8 finish grants those teams knock-out status in the VURC tournament, as well as automatic progression to the 2026/27 Investec Champions Cup, without doubt, the greatest club competition in global rugby.
Following his team’s exit from the EPCR Challenge Cup at the hands of Connacht, Hollywoodbets Sharks head coach JP Pietersen admitted that there is plenty to work with as the focus now shifts back to the VURC.
The return of Springbok hero Eben Etzebeth has been a huge boost for a team missing at least 20 players to injury, and the extra week off can only benefit those who are still fit, along with the possibility that little niggles preventing players from action now have the chance to subside and give Pietersen extra manpower for next weekend when the team travel to Wales to take on Ospreys, currently one position lower that the Durban side.
“We’ll review the Connacht game, have a look at ourselves and work out how we can get better and obviously identify the good stuff, where we played well,” Pietersen explains.
“Unfortunately we have a couple of injuries so hopefully we can make a plan to get some players back and then go all out for the last four.”
The Hollywoodbets Sharks are seven points behind the eighth placed Vodacom Bulls with four matches remaining, two away followed by a fortnight at Hollywoodbets Kings Park to close out the regular season, hopefully on a high and a passage into the quarter-finals.
It will take a big effort, but that’s not something foreign to a team that has showed great fighting spirit and an ability to beat big names this season.
“There’s an opportunity for us to get 20 points from the last four games to set us up for a top 8 finish,” Pietersen admits with genuine belief and confidence.
“Of the last four games we have left in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, two are up here in the north against Ospreys and Edinburgh.”
The team will then return to Durban to host the two Italian sides – Benetton (in 12th place) and Zebre (bottom of the log) on consecutive weekends where the team will hopefully be in sight of the all-important top 8 and then deliver the knock-out performances the coach wants to see.
“Going forward, we want to put in a collective 80 minutes together. We’ve been asking for consistency in performance and a collective 80 minutes, that’s what we’ve been seeking the entire campaign.
“But we’ve been very up and down and inconsistent in our performances.”
The last four weekends offer the opportunity to change all that.