Sharks circling URC playoffs ahead of Munster collision: 'The beauty is it's in our hands'

Barring a total meltdown, the Sharks should at least clinch the final United Rugby Championship (URC) place against Munster at Kings Park on Saturday.

Their 43-33 win over Benetton Treviso last Friday ensured that the Durbanites enter the last round-robin fixture with a five-point gap ahead of the Italians in eighth place, the final quarter-final position on 46 points.

The Sharks also hold a couple more buffers in terms of deciding who makes it into the final Champions Cup qualification spot after getting more wins (nine) than Benetton and retaining a superior points difference.

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Still, a point would secure their passage but five could see them climb as high as sixth - avoiding the dreaded trip to Leinster in Dublin for the quarter-finals - if the Bulls (currently seventh) and Connacht (sixth) slip up.

Neil Powell's men also face an opponent they destroyed 50-35 in the Champions Cup last 16 at Kings Park, which showed how devastating they could be on their day.

Munster, however, shocked the Stormers 26-24 in Cape Town last weekend, showing the kind of gritty defence and opportunism that can hurt any team.

"It will be a tricky one because we played them three weekends ago and they would have learnt from that experience," Sharks director of rugby, Powell, said.

"But the beauty is that it's in our hands. How we approach the game and what we want out of it is in our hands.

"Hopefully, we can have a good week's preparation and have a better performance than what we had [on Friday night]."

The Sharks must contend with another injury setback at lock, however, after losing Hyron Andrews to a failed head injury assessment (HIA) test.

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