KEY POINTS:
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans believes his team need to raise the bar far higher than last weekend to end the Sharks' unbeaten run in the Super 14 rugby competition in Durban on Sunday morning.
The Crusaders, beaten 3-9 in a tryless match by the Lions the previous week, belted the Cheetahs 49-28 in Bloemfontein a week later.
However, the Sharks were a different creature Deans felt.
They had experienced players in key positions, were extremely aggressive in the contact area and confident as a unit, after three wins from three games.
"Now we must raise the bar again," Dean told the Crusaders website.
"Not only will a repeat performance not be enough to beat the unbeaten Sharks, we are also going to need to get much better to handle the rest of the competition."
Dean said the victory over the Lions boosted his players' confidence.
"The key difference between the Crusaders side that you saw last weekend in Bloemfontein and the one the week before that appeared at Ellis Park was in the attitude.
"For our second week in South Africa, we came ready to play -- both as far as our focus on the match plan was concerned, but also with regards to the trust and belief we showed in each other.
"That manifested itself in the greater continuity in possession we achieved, which allowed us to stretch the Cheetahs using the full width of the field, retaining the ball and mounting the pressure until they ultimately broke.
"If we are going to live with the Sharks on their home patch, we are going to need to be more aggressive and impose ourselves more in the contact area than we've been able to so far this year.
"We are also going to have to be more accurate and more effective in our defensive work in terms of closing down opposition ball carriers and creating opportunities for tackle turnovers."
Deans said denying the Sharks momentum was going to be the key for his team as the home side had big game experience and scoring strike power across the park.
He expected all his players to be available for selection tomorrow, with winger Rico Gear, who missed last Sunday's game with a shoulder problem, ready for action again.
- NZPA
