Cape Town — The Sharks will only hit Irish shores on Wednesday as they prepare to take on top-of-the-log Leinster in Saturday's quarter-final of the United Rugby Championship.
While the Durban side will be without two of their most influential Springboks in captain Siya Kolisi and lock Eben Etzebeth, Leinster will be hoping their big guns can continue their domination after a brilliant display in the Champions Cup this past weekend.
IOL Sport's Leighton Koopman takes a look at five players the Sharks will have to look after in the match to stand a chance of progressing to the semis.
Josh van der Flier (loose forward)
The Irish flanker recently returned from an ankle injury and made an immediate impact in Leinster's Champions Cup win over Toulouse this past weekend. He is always prominent around the park and will be a handful for the Sharks defenders to contain. Van der Flier is one of the primary ball-carriers for his side and it will be up to the Sharks' forwards to halt him in his tracks. But, there's also his poaching abilities at the breakdown where the Durban side's cleaners will play an important role in shutting him down. He is also a massive threat at line-out time and controls the Leinster rolling maul.
Jack Conan (Eighth man)
His work-rate on and off the ball is simply outstanding and just like Van der Flier he gets around the park in a non-stop fashion. He loves getting stuck in at the rucks and tackles with almost no regard for his body. In the recent Champions Cup quarters against Toulouse, he made more than 15 tackles and was ever-present when it came to carrying the ball in contact.
Hugo Keenan (Fullback)
When and if he gets the opportunity, he will run at the Sharks, looking for space to exploit. Keenan has been a revelation for Leinster at fullback and will be a handful if he does get the run out in the quarter-final. He's not afraid to put his body on the line when he runs it from the back, but in the same breath can turn the Sharks' forwards around with his kicking boot. Leinster loves to mix it up and will be looking to use Keenan as one of the unpredictable players to cause havoc for their visitors.
Ross Byrne (Flyhalf)
The flyhalf has been sublime since taking over the duties of the injured Johnny Sexton. Byrne has been slotting his kicks at goal, he is brilliant when it comes to relieving pressure with his big boot and does not shy away from creating space for his backline when carrying the ball into contact. The Sharks will have to sharpen their discipline to curb Byrne and his kicking boot after he kicked Toulouse into submission in the Champions Cup.
Jamison Gibson-Park (Scrumhalf)
The nippy scrumhalf is the string-puller of the Leinster side and he marshals his forwards excellently when he wants to play it tight. But, he can also speed up the play when the backline wants to run with the ball. And one of his outstanding abilities is how he snipes around the rucks, catching defenders unaware. The Sharks will also have to be secure under the high balls as Gibson-Park loves putting up bombs to put the outside backs under immense pressure in their half.
IOL Sport