Sharks won’t change for the Currie Cup final

Sharks centre Andries Strauss says that the Sharks will not change the way they have been playing when they host the 2010 Currie Cup final next weekend.

Strauss says that the Sharks adaptation to the new laws of the game has helped them get to where they are and adds the team are committed to giving everything they have on the field.

“The game has evolved a lot, everyone has to have the ability to play a number of roles and to do the basics well. “says Strauss.

“We’ve adapted well and hopefully can keep building on what we’ve done to now for the final,” he said on the Sharks site.

Looking back to Saturday’s semi-final Strauss said,””When you play the Bulls, it’s always going to be physical and being a semi-final, and the fact that there were players back who hadn’t been around and who wanted to make up for lost time, it just contributed to the physicality of the game.”

“It’s always nice to play a game like that and come out on top – the bruises don’t hurt quite as much on a Sunday morning.”

“We’re in week 16 of the tournament and most of the preparation has been done,” he points out.

“Now it’s just a a case of mentally getting yourself into a place where you’re able to express yourself and not go into your shell where you’re scared to try things.

“The way we’ve been playing, we’ve been encouraged to have a go, to play and not to wait for things to happen.

The Sharks finished the regular season four points ahead of Western Province and while both teams secured 10 wins a piece before the play offs the Sharks also picked up 12 bonus points largely thanks to the number of bonus point tries they scored.

“For the final, things aren’t going to be much different; we aren’t going to change what we’ve been doing and hopefully everything we’ve worked hard for comes together nicely in the final.”

“It doesn’t make sense for us to change what got us to the top of the log, we’re in the final and hopefully what we’ve done all tournament will prove to be good enough for us to win the tournament.”

“As a team, we’re proud of what we do and want to win trophies. We did that in 2008 but last year missed out on a place in the final. This year, even though we’re really happy to be in the final, there is a lot still to do before we can end off the season and say that it’s been a success.

“At the end of the day, we’re in this competition to win it.”