Sharks coach John Plumtree received a timely boost ahead of the Currie Cup semifinal showdown with the Cheetahs in Durban on Saturday, with the news that as many as four of his injured Springboks could still make the starting XV.

Plumtree, who refused to dwell on the past 14 weeks of league action, said his mind has already "flicked straight away to the Cheetahs".

"They're a side that's hurt us in the past but we've got an opportunity to host a home Final, which is huge for everyone," Plumtree said in an interview on the Sharks' website.

"But, at the end of the day, there are the Cheetahs in front of us and you can't look too far past that."

And awaiting the Cheetahs is a team boosted by the news that Bok hooker Bismarck du Plessis's rib injury is not as serious as initially thought and he may well be available for the semifinal.

More good news comes in the form of Bok prop Tendai Mtawarira, who was also replacement in the 45-30 win over Griquas last Saturday - with a shoulder injury. But he is also making good progress and rated a good bet to start against the Cheetahs.

Add to that the progress of Jean Deysel, who is in line to make a return to the starting line-up after playing off the bench last week, along with Bok prop Deon Carstens, Bok lock Johann Muller and Emerging Bok flank Jacques Botes and the future looks bright indeed.

Plumtree will make a final call on their availability later in the week, but they are all "looking good".

Plumtree made it clear that his team will continue to work hard this way as they look to secure their first back-to-back titles since the 1995/96 seasons.

"The message I want to get across is that we have put ourselves in a position to host a home final, but we haven't actually achieved that as yet," Plumtree told the media.

"We still have to get through 80 tough minutes of rugby this weekend. In fact, this weekend's match is really a final in itself.

"We treated it the same way last year and we didn't get ahead of ourselves.

"I personally think that there's not much between the top four teams on their day and I really hope we get a big crowd because this could be it, and we need them here to spur us on."

365

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