The Cell C Sharks may have sent a second-string side to Galway for Saturday's game with Connacht but Tom Farrell knows they still have plenty of bite in their midfield.
In Rohan Janse van Rensburg the Sharks possess one of the in-form centres in the BKT United Rugby Championship. The once-capped Springbok scored two tries in last weekend's win over the Vodacom Bulls, having helped create three in the previous round against the Emirates Lions.
"He's a quality player, dynamic, fast, very powerful," said Farrell, who starts at outside centre for Connacht.
"I think I might have played against him a couple of years ago when he was with Sale Sharks. He was quite a handful that day so we’ll have to be on our A game in defence."
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An explosive ball-carrier who is ninth in the offload charts in this season's URC, Janse van Rensburg will be keen to atone for the red card received on his last visit to Ireland. He saw red at the RDS in October for making contact with the heads of Leinster duo Ross Byrne and Garry Ringrose in the space of a minute.
Janse van Rensburg is one of just three players retained from the Sharks team that battered the Bulls. With a home game against Bordeaux-Bègles in the Heineken Champions Cup next weekend, followed by another trip north to tackle Harlequins and Edinburgh, the Durban club opted to rest a host of first-teamers for their first visit to the Sportsground including Springboks Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Makazole Mapimpi.
The Sharks have won five games in a row since director of rugby Neil Powell took interim charge following Sean Everitt's departure, lifting them up to fifth in the table with two games in hand on some of the teams above them.
Their form is in stark contrast to Connacht, whose play-offs hopes are fading fast after back-to-back losses against Ulster and Leinster. They sit 13th, eight points behind eighth-placed Cardiff, and cannot afford another reverse on Saturday.
Connacht were highly competitive against Leinster on New Year’s Day but they collapsed in the final quarter while playing with 14 men after Jarrad Butler was forced off injured with all of their substitutions already made.
"We thought we actually played quite well in some passages of the game," said Farrell. "Pete [Wilkins, Connacht’s head coach] reviewed it and said that maybe against some of the other teams in the league, a performance like that would have been probably sufficient.
"But when you’re playing against the best team in Europe, little lapses in concentration, little hiccups will cost you. And it did."
Farrell scored Connacht's second try against Leinster
Farrell makes his third successive start this weekend, although he will have a third different midfield partner in Cathal Forde after David Hawkshaw suffered an ankle injury against Leinster and Bundee Aki was again rested.
Farrell scored his first try of the season against Leinster but admits there is plenty of room for improvement.
"I’ve been pleased with parts of [my game]," he said. "It’s nice to get some involvements and get into a bit of a routine in the last two games. There is a lot of areas as well that I need to brush on. Looking at the review on Tuesday morning, I was involved in some clips that were also negative.
"What am I looking to improve on? Just to identify when there is space on the edges, that we can let that ball move.
"Also, defensive set-ups, demanding more from the guys inside me so that when myself and the wingers are on the edge, we can put names on the guys inside and try get more of a harder edge in defence so that makes our job a bit easier."
This month marks six years since Farrell moved out west following a short stint with Bedford Blues in the English second tier.
"I was actually only thinking about it recently," he said. "I came in and had an initial period that was quite successful. I was playing a good bit and really enjoying it.
"Then I had the mixed couple of seasons with injury, and then Covid kicked in. I was thinking, how is it six years now? That period between Covid and injury just passed me by.
"The past couple of seasons have been frustrating, in and out, picking up knocks and bigger injuries.
"My mindset in the last year or so has been to really enjoy every chance I get when I play for Connacht. We’ve seen players hanging up the boots over the last season or two and it just makes you realise that the game could be over so quickly.
"When you do get your chance out there, just enjoy it and relish it."
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