Muir wants 80-minute effort

Sharks coach Dick Muir, who feels his team has not once this season managed to play to its full potential, wants his charges to produce the quality rugby they are capable of and do so for a full 80 minutes.

Speaking ahead of their Super 14 Round 13 encounter with the Lions in Durban on Saturday, the Sharks mentor said there were moments this season when his team showed “glimpses” of what they are capable of, but that he is still not satisfied with the overall picture.

“As a coach I feel the team has not played to its full potential,” Muir told this website.

“The closest we came was probably the second half against the Reds [a 59-16 win in Brisbane], the second half against the Bulls early in the season [a 17-3 win in Week One], against the Blues [a 32-25 win in Auckland] and second half against the Chiefs [coming from 32-3 down to lose only 35-27],” Muir added.

Muir, who was adamant that his team was not looking beyond this week’s all-South African derby and certainly not even thinking of the play-offs yet, said the team needs to put it together for a full 80 minutes.

“We’ve got a job to do this weekend,” he said when asked about the road ahead. “We are just looking at the Lions game.”

However, there are certain standard he would like his team to set in this game.

“We just want to be more consistent and more accurate in what we do,” Muir said.

“We haven’t put an ‘innings’ together yet and that’s what we would like to do.

“We just have to keep our concentration and play for a full 80 minutes,” he added.

Speaking of the role the “bounce” of the ball can play, Muir said they have to make sure they do what they can do and control the game themselves.

Muir, who said his team is “pretty injury free” and that he will have virtually a full squad to pick from for the Lions game,

He will delay naming his team until Thursday to give prop BJ Botha (flu) and wing Odwa Ndungane (gastro) time to recover.

However, there is unlikely to be any surprises to the team to play the Lions.

By Jan de Koning 365 Digital