Thanks to their ultimately comfortable win over the Toyota Cheetahs at the weekend, the Sharks just need to win against the Sunwolves in order to qualify for a playoff fixture as the third ranked South African team.
They will be seeded eighth, so will have to do it the hard way by travelling if they want to win the competition, but given their schedule this year and the lack of depth in their squad, just making the playoffs will be an achievement for the Sharks.
The Sharks should be able to deal with the Sunwolves without Lambie, their regular captain, but their chances of winning a playoff game, which could quite conceivably be an Emirates Airlines Park rematch with the Lions, will hinge heavily on the availability of the Springbok.
He has been out since being pole-axed in a collision with the thigh of Irish flank CJ Stander in Cape Town on 11 June.
The role that Lambie could play in the Finals phase of the season will, according to Gold, be determined by whether he is available this week.
“We are hoping that on Monday we will find that Pat is responding to the cognitive tests for concussion and will be cleared to play. He wasn’t ready this week,” said Gold after his team’s 26-10 win over their old nemesis.
“Unfortunately, and I am sure Pat will agree with this, we have now reached a stage where Pat has been out for too long to be introduced straight back into the starting team. It is going to be imperative to get him to start exercising, which means getting onto a stationary bike, as soon as he is cleared to play.
“He is currently in his fourth week out, and so the best case scenario for us is that Pat will be available this week and then we can play him off the bench.”
On the evidence of the Sharks’ stuttering performance against the Cheetahs, they do need Lambie – Willie le Roux too, but Lambie in particular.
Although Garth April does produce some quite sublime moments at times, and his place-kicking was faultless against the Cheetahs and played a big role in determining the result, he just makes too many mistakes to be relied on with confidence in away playoff games.
The story of April’s performance against the Cheetahs was that there were some good moments followed by some extremely poor ones, with too many kicks going out on the full and too many mistakes all round.
Lambie could also bring more confidence to the Sharks’ attacking game, plus the assurance and experience that makes for better decision making.
The territorial dominance enjoyed by the Cheetahs in the first half at Kings Park was as much down to poor decision making from the Sharks as it was to poor kicking.
The statistics showed that the Sharks made more carries and more metres with ball in hand in the first half, but they were doing it from the wrong part of the field, and it enabled the Cheetahs to keep them pinned in their own half.
