Sharks loosie Notshe not keen on blaming weather for off-colour performances

Sharks loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe said the weather can never be an excuse for any performance; good or bad, for any team.

The Sharks were outsmarted by Edinburgh in turgid conditions last weekend and they'll need to be better when they host the Dragons on Friday.

Notshe said the onus was on them to control what they can control, but the weather isn't one of those things.

"We must never make the weather thing an excuse. We're playing at home and in front of our people, so we must always have energy," Notshe said.

"We must control the controllables, and the weather is something we can't control. We play with whatever's in front of us

"We don't want to be a side that makes excuses and waits for a sunny day in Durban. At times, those sunny days don't even come.

"We know Durban is always beautiful, but we must never be a side that waits for a sunny day to play good rugby."

The Sharks weren't outmuscled nor outplayed by their Scottish counterparts, but they were hamstrung by their inability to convert their opportunities in the 22m area.

Notshe said they have been their own worst enemies when it comes to the non-conversion of try-scoring opportunities.

"The conversion rate in our own 22 hasn't been great. We know how to get there, but we need to finish off our opportunities," Notshe said.

"That requires time on the saddle and time on the training pitch to sort out those situations that we put ourselves in during that area of the game."

The Dragons may have been on the receiving end of a beating by the Bulls on Friday, but Notshe is in no mood to underestimate them.

"The one thing I've learnt in this competition is never to underestimate any of these sides. The scoreboard may not reflect that, but they put up a fight in Pretoria,"