Sharks carrying a Burden
Thu, 01 May 2008 14:21
The Sharks will go into Friday's Super 14 clash with the Crusaders without their Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis, but according to coach Dick Muir, Craig Burden will not disappoint.
Burden is in a similar mould to that of Du Plessis, with his speed around the park his big asset.
Being a former backline player, Burden has extraordinary pace for a tight forward.
Sharks coach Dick Muir has no doubt that Burden can fill the boots of Du Plessis.
"He has a massive work rate," Muir told sharksrugby.co.za.
"He has a lot of the attributes of Bismarck [du Plessis] , he just lacks Bismarck's experience.
"And the only way you get experience is by playing, by being thrown in the deep end, and this is his opportunity.
"He did well when he came on for 60 minutes against the Lions, they have a tall line-out and he proved to us there that he is ready. He's also extremely determined. If you tell him to do 10 push-ups, he'll do 20 - he's that type of guy - we never question his commitment or work ethic," added Muir.
Muir admits that the going has been good this week ahead of their final match on tour.
"We were able to prepare better with injuries in mind, we've been able to work around that and have a good week's preparation," he said.
"Our pride has been dented and the players want to redeem themselves.
"The theme has been about respect towards the ball and the jersey. We have given up possession too easily and we probably would have felt that we were found to be a bit light in the forward pack and we wanted to bulk it up a little," added Muir.
The Sharks have expressed their desire all season about hosting a semifinal. For that to become a reality, a win against the Crusaders is non-negotiable.
"We want a home semifinal and we don't want to leave our destiny in someone else's hands like we did two years ago," admits Muir.
In 2006 the Sharks had all but secured a semifinal date with the Crusaders in Christchurch, with the Bulls needing to win by an unlikely margin of 31 points against the Stormers. They won by 33 to break all Sharks hearts.
They don't want a repeat of that this year.
