AFTER their heavy 39-10 defeat at the hands of the New South Wales Waratahs last week, the Cats will go into Saturday’s Super 12 match against the Sharks in Johannesburg as underdogs. The importance of the match for both sides is paramount. The Cats can ill afford another defeat so early in their campaign. The Sharks have a bye next week and would like nothing better than to be unbeaten as their bid to win the competition gains momentum. After a tough outing last week against ACT Brumbies which they won 21-16, the Sharks hope flyhalf Henry Honiball and Gary Teichmann can edge closer to full match fitness after protracted injury lay-offs. For their part the Cats are struggling with injuries to frontline players such as wings James Small and Chester Williams, and utility backs MJ Smith and Lourens Venter. Boeta Wessels’ form at flyhalf remains a concern and they could well hand the stand-off role to Pieter O’Neill or Kobus Engelbrecht.