Johannesburg - The Italy team to play Ireland in a Six Nations match on Sunday is comprised mostly of Benetton players, therefore the Sharks will have a great chance of beating the Treviso-based team the day before in a United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture.
The Sharks have been in Italy for a few days now and unlike their hosts on Saturday, they are at full strength, resplendent with current Springboks in Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit, and the rest of their squad is not too shabby either and includes an Argentina international in flyhalf Tito Bonelli.
The Sharks will see this as an excellent opportunity to bag precious overseas points in the URC and to also climb into the top eight on the log, the all-important positions you want to be among at the end of the competition when there is qualification for elite competitions. Of the 16 teams in the URC, the Sharks are currently 10th and Benetton are one place above them.
The South African teams are playing just this one round of games overseas and then they have a run of home fixtures against their European colleagues, so for the Sharks, this match against one of the weaker teams has to be seen as a vital smash-and-grab raid.
This win is definitely achievable, especially when you consider the struggling Lions are away to competition favourites Leinster and the Stormers are playing another strong Irish team, Connacht, in one of the most inhospitable venues, blustery Galway.
Like the Sharks, the Bulls have also drawn a cosier fixture in Zebre, who are not only bottom of the log but have also lost players to the Italian national cause.
As much as the Sharks will be favourites on Saturday (5pm kick-off), they know better than to underestimate the Italians — nobody will ever be complacent going to Treviso after what happened to the Bulls in the Rainbow Cup final last year when they were humiliated 35-8.
Even if the Sharks are playing a depleted Benetton, the home side has a fine record on their home ground, even against the best in the competition.
First gym session in Italy 🏋️#OurSharksForever #TacklingNewShores Vodacom #URC #BENvSHA pic.twitter.com/3GivX5rjaa
And last week, when Benetton were away to the Warriors in Glasgow, they were no pushovers with their largely second-string side, losing 13-3.
And as usual, they have their sprinkling of streetwise South Africans, including captain Dewald Duvenage, who runs the show expertly from scrumhalf, and a former Shark and Cheetah in fullback Rhyno Smith.
With all of this said, though, this game is a must-win for a Sharks team that has no excuses — they had a month-long tour of the URC in November and are now familiar with the challenges of the conditions and the refereeing interpretations, plus this time they have their full complement of Springboks.