Sharks keen on tough tour Down Under

It would be easy to bill the Sharks sojourn to Australasia as the "tour from hell" when glancing at their intense five week itinerary, which includes a final game stop at Christchurch to play the Crusaders.

But just chat to Dick Muir and he'd have you believing his charges would be on an extended holiday, with a bit of Super 14 rugby in between.

Speaking after the Sharks had slugged their way to a 22-10 victory over the Reds in Durban, Muir looked as keen as anything to head Down Under.

"At the Sharks we always enjoy touring and that's because we manage to balance the social and rugby element," he said.

"It's easy to be negative about a tour, but we are excited to go to New Zealand and Australia, having seen what the Stormers have done, winning three games, and also seeing the Cheetahs and Bulls fighting hard and doing well, even though they lost."

"We fly to Wellington this week and then play the Hurricanes. After that we head to a beautiful ski resort in Queenstown and then bus in to Dunedin to play the Highlanders."

"From there we fly to Sydney where we will be based for two weeks at Cogee beach, which is one of the nicest beaches in the world. We fly to Canberra to play the Brumbies and then come back to our base to play the Waratahs a week later and end the trip against the Crusaders," Muir said.

Commenting about the Sharks' performance against the Reds, which saw the team dominate for large parts but fail to secure the bonus point for scoring four tries or more, Muir said: "You have to give credit where credit is due and the Reds defended well."

"It would have been good to get the bonus point, but there have been times where we have come unstuck in similar positions, like last year against the Brumbies when we lost at home before our tour."

Muir admitted he was mulling over a few selection posers, especially where it would be best to play Frans Steyn. The talented 20-year-old can play anywhere in the backline, bar scrumhalf.

With Frederic Michalak looking in fine nick at flyhalf and Stefan Terblanche a calming influence at fullback, it would appear that Steyn may be moved into the midfield to replace Brad Barritt.

"But, we will have to see where he would fit in. In saying that we are thinking about moving him to inside centre."

The Hurricanes will be a tough prospect at the Westpac Stadium this Saturday after they came within eight points of downing the Crusaders when they lost 20-13 to the log leaders at the weekend.

The Sharks will have to be at their best if they hope to keep their six match unbeaten run on track, because the Hurricanes need to get their campaign on course if they hope to make the playoffs.