Scrumhalf Grant Williams believes the embattled Sharks will spark back into life on home turf against the Lions when the teams clash in Durban on Saturday.
Following a narrow defeat to the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium last week, the Sharks host the men from Johannesburg at Kings Park in the only Vodacom URC game this weekend, and are desperate to end a woeful run of form in the competition.
The Durbanites are in last place on the table after one win and seven defeats, despite John Plumtree having a Springbok-powered squad at his disposal, including eight World Cup winners – Williams being one of them.
Williams brings express pace and a scoring threat that keeps defenders on high alert. His vision for exploiting half gaps makes him a dynamic option at No 9 or off the bench, while the 27-year-old can also be deployed on the wing, where he scored two tries in his maiden World Cup campaign in 2023.
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Speaking in a Sharks conference on Thursday, the Paarl-born halfback emphasised the positive energy in the camp despite a disappointing URC season while insisting that a turnaround in fortunes is imminent.
“We felt as a group we could’ve got the win last Saturday, but the positive is that we can look forward to this Saturday and go out there and put on a performance that our fans can be proud of, so we’re all pretty excited,” Williams told reporters.
“We are building towards a strong performance and we’re close as a group to delivering on that.
“The Lions are a quality outfit, they can move the ball around as well. A heavy pack too, so we can expect a physical battle. The thing for us is we need to make sure we find our stride, and like I said before, give our fans the performance they deserve.
“There’s more positives in our squad than negatives. If you look at our last couple of results it’s not like we lost heavily, and it was all by close margins.
“We just need to find that, I guess, that fire and I think we’ll be fine. Where we find ourselves the last couple weeks we’ve been building as a team and are a much stronger unit.”
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