KEY POINTS:
DURBAN - Blues captain Troy Flavell has heaped the onus on himself to reignite some early-season fire against the Sharks in Sunday morning's (NZ time) Super 14 rugby semifinal here.
Rampaging lock Flavell admitted his own form hadn't hit the heights of the first half of the competition.
The dip coincided with the Blues losing three straight games and falling from their competition-leading status to fourth place -- thus the trip to Durban rather than hosting a semifinal this weekend.
"Probably the last few weeks I've dropped off a little bit, but form-wise I don't think you can stay at the top throughout the whole competition. It's a pretty long comp," Flavell said.
"I'll be looking at a big game, definitely."
Not only will his lead-from-the-front approach be influential at Absa Stadium it would further push the cause for Flavell's reinclusion in the All Blacks.
Flavell agreed with All Blacks coach Graham Henry's policy of taking most notice of those who perform in big games. Others hopeful of international selection would be equally aware, Flavell added.
"It's definitely pressure rugby. I'm sure there's a lot of people here who fall into the same category."
Flavell is a strong contender for the All Blacks' lock/loose forward slot at the World Cup. His chief rival for that spot is Crusaders veteran Reuben Thorne, who will be equally determined to show his wares in their semifinal against the Bulls in Pretoria.
Other fringe World Cup candidates include right wing rivals Rico Gear (Crusaders) and Doug Howlett (Blues), fringe loose forward options Mose Tuiali'i (Crusaders) and Jerome Kaino (Blues), along with tighthead props Campbell Johstone (Crusaders) and John Afoa (Blues).
Flavell said national representation wasn't being discussed this week among his team.
Instead he had noticed a desire among his teammates to right the wrongs of their three-week slump which almost saw the Blues plummet from first to almost miss the semifinals.
Last weekend's 33-6 defeat of the Western Force in Perth was a good way to end their malaise.
"Hopefully the guys will drag a lot of confidence out of that win. It was a big ask to get those five points and we achieved that," Flavell said.
"The guys will draw off that and I think the commitment we showed last week will reappear this week."
Flavell, 30 and with 17 test caps, admitted it was hard to find a weakness in the Sharks and hoped his team could turn the game into a fast-moving encounter to fray the potent forward pack of the home side.
"We like to play an attacking, expansive style of rugby so the hot weather will suit our team," he said.
"Their forward pack is strong, they're strong in the halves in well.
"I'm sure they'll try to take it to us physically, win the battle up front and then use their speed out wide.
"Physically they're pretty dominating and if you let them get on top too much, they'll take advantage of that. That's where they get a lot of their momentum from."
The complements were returned and then trumped by Sharks and Springboks captain John Smit.
He bent over backwards to praise the Blues, trying to ensure standards remained high this weekend from the top qualifiers.
"With the Blues' good forwards and strong strike runners, that's enough to send shivers down your spine," Smith said.
He said the Sharks' 32-25 win when the teams met at Albany a month ago shouldn't be used as any sort of reference point.
"This is a totally different scenario," Smit said.
"In Albany the wet weather probably suited us more and we adapted our game plan.
"This time it will take a bigger effort to beat them because they know it's do or die."
- NZPA
