Cats hope to claw back in Super 12

The Cats may be down, but they are far from out of Super 12 contention, says captain and Springbok flanker Johan Erasmus.

It may sound like wishful thinking or day-dreaming, but he says that the squad still has hopes of making the last four if they can take 20-22 points from their last five matches, starting with a win over Sharks in Durban.

"I know some people will want the Sharks to win because they are thought by some to have a better chance of finishing higher than us, so from a South African point of view it's a real pity that we may have to damage their chances. But we need the win for ourselves and so we can't afford to take it easy because it's one of our local teams," said Erasmus.

Erasmus said that despite the Canberra humiliation, the Cats squad was far from dispirited. "We are up for the last five matches. We know we let ourselves down badly and also our coach Laurie Mains. It wasn't for the want of trying. We were focused and determined," he added.

"But we just did not get enough ball and when we did, we could not retain it for long enough. In contrast, the Brumbies are a fantastic combination which has been playing together for four years now. That's why they combine so well and run those amazing angles from deep behind the advantage line. Runners like Andrew Walker and Joe Roff feed off the playmakers like Stephen Larkham and they create so much space and time that would-be tacklers are thrown off balance for a split-second and cannot recover," Erasmus added.

The Cats' livewire forward rates Brumbies as clearly the Super 12 combination to beat, a verdict shared by other South African squads. Cats, meanwhile, have been given a couple of days respite by Laurie Mains before they target the match against Sharks at King's Park as the starting point for operation recovery.