Ulster are literally sweating themselves in preparation to face the Sharks – by turning up the heat in their baths to mimic the humid conditions in Durban on Saturday.
The Ulstermen will lock horns with the Sharks in a 2pm kick-off at Kings Park in the first of two rescheduled Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches this weekend, the other one between the Lions and Glasgow Warriors in Johannesburg.
The Sharks were set to host Ulster in round 6 of the URC, which would have been preceded by Lions versus Glasgow at Ellis Park. However, due to gastroenteritis infections it was not possible for the visiting teams to field full playing squads.
Playing at the end of February in Durban is always a challenge, so Ulster underwent heat preparation to try and acclimatise to what they will experience in KZN, where the weather is vastly different from Belfast.
PLUS: Sharks have a bone to pick with Ulster
Speaking before he and his teammates boarded the plane for the Republic, Ulster loose forward Jordi Murphy told the club’s website: “It’s tough but we aren’t going to make excuses about it, we are professionals.
“We can talk about climate and the travel schedule but at the end of the day, it’s two teams against each other.
“If we are switched on mentally we will have a good chance. It will be a physical test and we hoped to play it a while ago, but it has come around again and we are looking forward to it.”
“It’s close to 24 hours of travel [from Belfast] and it will be hot over there, so we have tried to do some heat acclimatisation – saunas, hot baths, staying hydrated, anything that will help.
“You have to be vigilant because if you don’t do the heat acclimatisation up until the day before you can get a serious shock to the system.”
Photo: @UlsterRugby/Twitter