Defence coach Joey Mongalo claims the defending Challenge Cup champions are full of confidence despite last week's United Rugby Championship loss to Leinster.

"The team hasn't lost any confidence from that performance against Leinster, we're a group that takes things into context and the team we played was top quality, even though they were missing some internationals," he explained on the eve of the team's departure to France.

"We all saw that at Loftus the previous week when the Bulls had to kick a penalty in the last minute to win, which says a lot about the quality of that outfit.

"Looking internally, I thought the way we operated showed enough encouraging signs that we can do a lot of good things going forward. So it definitely wasn't a confidence drop, but an opportunity to do some introspection and see where we can get better.

"We've taken a lot of positives out of that game, on attack we created a whole lot of opportunities which is something any attack coach takes pride in, we just didn't execute some of them, so it's probably more about finishing than the actual attack.

"Then defensively, I thought the boys put in some really good sets and that says a lot about this group, how they're growing and the cohesion, how much care they're building for each other as the season progresses."

Although the Sharks come into this game off the back of that disappointingly narrow loss and are now up against a fiercely partisan crowd, winning is uppermost in their thoughts.

"We never run out onto the field without the intent of winning, that's something we have to be super clear about," continued Mongalo.

"Winning is important, so even though you're playing in two different competitions, you are still one squad. So a win or great performance against Lyon will help the next fixture and just gives confidence for whoever we play next.

"Winning in any environment gives confidence, and not only that, but the quality of the performance, irrespective of what the scoreboard looks like. For us internally, the quality of the performance is what we want to measure and use as a yardstick of where we are."

With the URC taking a short break for the EPCR Challenge Cup knockouts, it does create challenges for the sides involved in both competitions.

"It's something that teams are still trying to figure out," admitted Mongalo.

"Leinster for example play Harlequins this weekend after playing the Bulls and us away. It's similar for us, we also have to think about Edinburgh in two weeks' time and then Ulster, two phenomenal opponents. At the same time, we have to honour a quality competition [the Challenge Cup], one we mustn't forget we're defending champions of."

Mongalo added that Springboks Eben Etzebeth and Aphelele Fassi did not make the tour squad and won't be available for the time being.

"They are both medically not able to be part of the match 23 at this point, although they're both on the road to recovery, both are looking good to be available in the next two or three weeks, but they're not currently ready," he confirmed.

READ MORE: Springbok greats back RG Snyman to help end Leinster's trophy drought

WORLD RUGBY HSBC SEVENS CHALLENGER 2025

Bok Women Sevens gearing up for Sevens Challenger series

Editors Pick