Sharks defence coach Joey Mongalo has revealed that they will give their all when they return to Challenge Cup action against Lyon in their round of 16 clash this weekend.

The Durban-based outfit are in a difficult situation as they are also trying to clinch a home play-off in the United Rugby Championship, which has resulted in head coach John Plumtree resting most of his first-choice players for Sunday’s match with Lyon at Matmut Stadium de Gerland.

Springboks stars rested for Lyon clash

That includes the likes of Springboks stars like Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch, Ox Nche and the Hendrikse brothers – Jaden and Jordan – with Andre Esterhuizen, Francois Venter, Ruan Dreyer and Ntuthuko Mchunu the only Boks in their matchday squad for their upcoming Challenge Cup encounter.

Although the Sharks are the defending champions in the Challenge Cup, their main focus appears to be on the URC and the decision to rest their Springboks stars should benefit the Durban-based outfit for their away games against Edinburgh and Ulster, respectively on April 18 and 26 in the latter competition.

Mongalo admitted that it’s difficult to find a balancing act between the two competitions.

“I think it is something that (South African) teams are still trying to figure out,” he revealed regarding the challenge of participating in two tournaments during the business end of the season.

“We’ve got to think of Edinburgh and Ulster in two weeks’ time, but at the same time we’ve got to honour a good quality competition that we mustn’t forget we are the defending champions of.

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“Even though you are playing in two competitions, you are still one squad. So a quality performance in Lyon will give us confidence for our next fixture, be that against the Ospreys or Scarlets (in a Challenge Cup quarter-final) or against Edinburgh in the URC.”

The Sharks are looking to bounce back after suffering a narrow 10-7 defeat against an understrength Leinster side in a pulsating URC encounter in Durban last week.

Leinster ‘was a top quality team’

“We’re a group that puts things in context. That team we played against, irrespective of them missing their Ireland internationals, was a top quality team,” said Mongalo.

“You saw that at Loftus the week before when the Vodacom Bulls had to kick a last-minute penalty to beat them.

“There were quite a few positive points we took from that game. Our kicking game and game management were nine out of 10.

“On attack we created a whole lot of opportunities; we just didn’t execute enough of them. So it’s probably more about our finishing than our actual attack.

“And defensively, I thought the boys put in some good sets. There was a three-minute defensive set on our tryline, which says a lot about this group. How the players are growing and how they care for each other.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/still-trying-to-figure-it-out-sharks-coach-details-south-african-teams-struggles-to-honour-two-tournaments