Johannesburg — Barely a soul gives the Sharks a chance of beating Leinster in Dublin on Saturday in the United Rugby Championship quarter-final but Gerbrandt Grobler says this gives the Sharks carte blanche to “have some fun.”
By saying that the experienced lock means the Sharks can go into the game with a spirit of adventure and have a full go at derailing the Leinster juggernaut.
“To be honest nobody gives us a chance but even a 1% chance can win you a game,” Grobler said from Dublin. “In a play-off game, you only need that one opportunity, that one bounce of the ball to go your way, the rub of the green here and there …
“It is our job to win rugby games and if you do not believe it, it won’t happen,” Grobler added. “So we are going for it, we have nothing to lose.”
The Sharks opted to go to Dublin late in the week. They had training sessions in Durban and then flew to Dublin on Wednesday.
The South African teams have fared badly in the travel stakes over the course of the URC because they have had to squeeze into economy class seats but, for the quarter-finals, things have changed.
“We took two flights and we all flew business class. It makes a big difference,” Grobler was pleased to report.
Grobler was told that the bookies have Leinster to win by at least 18 points but he laughed this off.
“People who make those kinds of predictions often know nothing about rugby,” he smiled. “The Leinster guys will say the same. When we played them last in Dublin, it was 27-26 after 60 minutes.
“Anything can happen on the day,” he continued. “We are going to have fun, we are going to play like we have nothing to lose and see what happens. That is what you can do when nobody gives you a chance.”
The Bulls beat Leinster in a semi-final this time last year but Grobler says the Sharks are not taking too much from that result.
“Yes, the Bulls showed that it can be done but I reckon Leinster have learnt a lot from that game. There is no way they will underestimate us (as they did the Bulls).”
Grobler says there is another reason why the Sharks will throw the kitchen sink at this game.
“It was tough not qualifying for the Heinken Cup next year, especially when teams that finished below you qualify. But we can still make it to the Champions Cup if we win this tournament. We have not given up on that (backdoor route to the Heinken Cup).”
IOL Sport