Straeuli and his Sharks take a huge gamble
If the Pinocchio syndrome applied, there would be a number of rather long noses in the territorial waters of the Natal Sharks.
But let's not quibble. Let's accept the eight changes in the starting lineup to meet the Wellington Hurricanes at the Absa Stadium on Saturday night at face value - it probably is the true team anyway - and agree that the word "rest" can be applied to captain Mark Andrews who, sensibly, is being given a break after straining a hamstring in last weekend's nailbiting 30-29 jailbreak against the Highlanders.
But that Andrews is injured there can be no doubt. Why else would the captain have left the field at such a critical stage last week with his team trailing by 13 points and just the final quarter to play?
It is, however, a long season and Andrews is worth his weight in gold sinkers to the Sharks, so now is as good a time as any for him to rest and make the best possible recovery.
The true facts of the matter are that Sharks coach, Rudolf Straeuli, is in a corner and has been forced to take a huge gamble.
He is gambling - on the evidence of the Stormers' performance against the Wellington-based team - that a Sharks pack geared towards mobility rather than power, will be strong enough to hold the visitors up front.
The coach and his captain, who no doubt will be sitting cheek by jowl in the stands throughout what is likely to be another tense encounter, have both urged the team to make more use of their ball-in-hand attacking capabilities.
They are gambling that, with the IRB taking a more relaxed attitude towards tackle ball situations and decoy running, that the players will rise to the occasion and, in Straeuli's words, "hopefully get more continuity into our play".
Straeuli believes his team are capable of scoring tries - and plenty of them - once they settle into the right mould.
In a post-Highlanders match comment, he noted: "We built ourselves on several occasions into a position to score, only to concede a penalty. Perhaps (with the expected greater continuity) this week we will be able to go on to score tries from those kind of situations."
Ruthlessness
It should help that referee in charge Andrew Cole has a reputation for helping a game to flow. For, one feels, in these new relaxed circumstances the Sharks, having disciplined themselves to rein in a natural desire to be more adventurous, will be like puppy-dogs with two tails.
Given licence to express themselves in this manner the likes of Deon Kayser, Trevor Halstead, Stefan Terblanche and the rest of a backline studded with ability - in addition to the new-look pack that hopefully will manage to hold its own - the Sharks will come out in a frenzy and produce a ruthlessness missing up until now.
The speed about the park of Brad Macleod-Henderson, Warren Britz and Charl van Rensburg is ideally suited to cutting down the opposition's space, a prerequisite for the overall success of Straeuli's big gamble.
If you were asked to name the world's most feared wing and fullback, and two of New Zealand's most penetrative runners, you wouldn't be far wrong if you answered: Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga and Jason O'Halloran, and limiting the space in which they are able to operate will go a long way towards securing the Sharks their fourth successive win in the tournament so far.
Lomu, of course, always presents special problems for opponents. "Human Tank" is as apt a name for the muscular, speedy bulldozer as you could find.
Ask England's Tony Underwood, he should know. Remember Kitch Christie's attitude when asked how James Small would manage to deal with the Lomu threat in the 1995 World Cup final?
"That's James's problem," was his laconic reply. You would likely get much the same answer from Straeuli - and why not?
Terblanche, with his speed and tenacity, should be well able to give the bullocking Samoan much the same treatment.
Can the Sharks make it four in a row? Remember, as their coach is always at pains to point out, a team these days is made up of 22 players and not 15.
Provided Straeuli pulls the right strings and his players respond, there's no reason why caretaker captain John Smit shouldn't rack up another win, even if the rumour is true that Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete, has detailed a special squad to prevent a third successive escape by the now notorious jail-breakers known as the Sharks.
Sharks: Ricardo Loubscher; Stefan Terblanche, Deon Kayser, Trevor Halstead, Justin Swart; Butch James, Hentie Martens; Brad Macleod-Henderson, AJ Venter, Philip Smit, Charl van Rensberg, Warren Britz, Brent Moyle, John Smit, Eduard Coetzee. Substitutes: Lukas van Biljon, Deon Carstens, Albert van den Berg, Warren Brosnihan, Craig Davidson, Gaffie du Toit, Andre Snyman.
Hurricanes: Christian Cullen; Brad Fleming or Daryl Lilley, Tana Umaga, Jason O'Halloran, Jonah Lomu; David Holwell, Jason Spice; Filo Tiatia, Rodney So'oialo, Dion Waller, Paul Tito, Jerry Collins, Gordon Slater (capt), Norm Hewitt, Kevin Yates. Substitutes: Davin Heaps, Tony Coughlan, Inoke Afeaki, Campbell Feather; Brendan Haami, Paul Steinmetz, Lilley or Mepi Faoagali.
Referee: Andrew Cole (Australia)
Kick-off: 7.10pm (live on SuperSport).