Bolstered Sharks eye Lions den

The return of Lwazi Mvovo and Craig Burden comes as a timely boost for the Sharks ahead of their trip to Johannesburg to face the Lions this weekend.

Wing Mvovo and hooker Burden were two of the five players released from the Springbok squad to play Currie Cup this weekend, and their return could be just the boost the visitors need to do the season double over the Lions.

The two teams find themselves tied on points at the top of the Currie Cup log, in a similar situation to last year when they went on to contest the final, so their clash on Saturday should be a fierce affair.

The Sharks got the better of the defending champions when the sides met in Durban earlier in the season, but coach John Plumtree is expecting a much tougher contest this weekend given the Lions' impressive recent form.

"The Lions have improved 30 or 40 percent since we last played them, they’ve won at Loftus, in Bloemfontein and their confidence is going to be right up there," he said.

The Sharks coach said that his side will have to show some composure to deal with the demands of playing at altitude in order to build on their victory over Western Province last week.

"We know how hard it is to win up there, it's going to be a big game for us this weekend. We are doing OK but we have to play very well to win.

"The players are working out what it takes to win at this level, that comes with experience, hopefully we will put it together this coming weekend and deliver a performance we can be proud of.

"It’s going to be huge, any away game for us is really big, especially at altitude," he said.