Skipper Smit-ten with home semi-final

JOHANNESBURG – Coastal Sharks captain John Smit is confident his side will qualify in the top two places and host a Super 14 semifinal next Saturday.

The Springbok skipper, however, doesn’t want to look too far ahead, preferring to focus on this weekend’s final match in the round-robin stage of the southern hemisphere inter-provincial rugby competition. The Sharks are currently in second place on the points table, with 41 points and only need a win against the Western Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday to finish second and stage one of the play-off games.Of course, there is also the possibility of the Sharks finishing on top of the standings should the Waikato Chiefs beat the table-topping Canterbury Crusaders in the first match on Friday.”It’s a good feeling to be in the position we find ourselves,” said Smit on Monday, two days after his side had beaten the Lions 33-3 and the Crusaders lost 15-6 to the ACT Brumbies.”We simply have to keep concentrating because a loss now (on Saturday in Cape Town) could mean we lose out completely.”The Stormers is always a big derby, there will be plenty of pride at stake and this match is as important to us as us having to go to Christchurch to take on the Crusaders in the final.That’s how important it is to the Sharks.We have to win to make sure we stay in the competition.”The Stormers are in 10th position and can no longer make the semifinals.The Chiefs (fifth, 36 points) and Brumbies (sixth, 35) however can still sneak into the playoffs should they beat the Crusaders and Otago Highlanders respectively and the likes of the Northern Bulls (fourth, 37), Auckland Blues (third, 37) and Sharks (second, 40) lose to the Queensland Reds, Western Force and Stormers.Nampa-AFPThe Sharks are currently in second place on the points table, with 41 points and only need a win against the Western Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday to finish second and stage one of the play-off games.Of course, there is also the possibility of the Sharks finishing on top of the standings should the Waikato Chiefs beat the table-topping Canterbury Crusaders in the first match on Friday.”It’s a good feeling to be in the position we find ourselves,” said Smit on Monday, two days after his side had beaten the Lions 33-3 and the Crusaders lost 15-6 to the ACT Brumbies.”We simply have to keep concentrating because a loss now (on Saturday in Cape Town) could mean we lose out completely.”The Stormers is always a big derby, there will be plenty of pride at stake and this match is as important to us as us having to go to Christchurch to take on the Crusaders in the final.That’s how important it is to the Sharks.We have to win to make sure we stay in the competition.”The Stormers are in 10th position and can no longer make the semifinals.The Chiefs (fifth, 36 points) and Brumbies (sixth, 35) however can still sneak into the playoffs should they beat the Crusaders and Otago Highlanders respectively and the likes of the Northern Bulls (fourth, 37), Auckland Blues (third, 37) and Sharks (second, 40) lose to the Queensland Reds, Western Force and Stormers.Nampa-AFP