Lukhanyo Am buoyant ahead of Sharks' URC derby against Stormers

Despite the Sharks languishing at the bottom of the URC table, Am has reasons to be upbeat. As the cliché goes, you™re only as good as your last game, and the Durban franchise has undoubtedly improved. 

The Sharks' last two fixtures were in the ongoing Challenge Cup, where they earned two comprehensive victories to breeze through to the playoffs.  

"Unfortunately, it has been a slow start for us in the league, but I am really happy with where we are at the moment," admitted Am on rugby365.com.

"I think the Challenge Cup can definitely kick-start our season. Our confidence is growing. We haven't been doing really well in the URC, but we could almost zoom in towards the Challenge Cup. It was a new competition and a fresh focus.

"Our energy towards it has been massive. We are targeting it and we want to go all the way. We will take a lot of confidence out of how we have performed in that competition. There is definitely hope for the future. There is massive improvement."

The Springbok centre also pointed out that the Sharks haven't been far off wins in the URC. Last time out, it was a two-point loss to the Lions which was off the back of a one-point loss to the Stormers. Back in November, they also lost by one point to Connacht.

"Even in the league games that were not going our way, we were displaying good performances," continued the double World Cup winner.

"It's just we didn't get the results. Now it is starting to stick, we are starting to convert, we are starting to grow as a team. It's really looking good for us. Hopefully, we will build and get more wins under the belt."

All that said, Am is under no illusions as to the challenge that awaits when when the former URC champions roll into town on Saturday.

"Hosting the Stormers at home will be very big for us," he added.

"We are looking forward to it. There should be a big crowd for that one. All derby games in South Africa are quite massive."

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