Sharks are scenting blood

Andre Esterhuizen (above), the Sharks’ bruising centre, said yesterday they are coming to Pretoria this week to avenge the 40-10 hammering the Bulls handed out to them four weeks ago in Durban.

The Sharks’ pride has since been restored with excellent wins over the Stormers and the Highlanders, and they scent blood because these are the two teams that have beaten the Bulls in the last fortnight.

“After our game against the Bulls at King’s Park we felt humiliated, so we have something to prove this weekend, we want to do the same to them. I’m sure they want to bounce back as well from their loss in Cape Town, but we haven’t forgotten what happened in our last meeting, plus we have taken confidence from our last game against the Highlanders,” Esterhuizen said.

The Bulls are bottom of the SA Conference, but they are just three points behind the thirdplaced Sharks, who are in the last wildcard place in the overall standings. Esterhuizen says the Super Rugby competition is now coming down to the wire.

“We’ll take whatever win we can get, ugly, whatever, it doesn’t matter. You have to with the conference being so tight and we have to win every game now if we want to finish on top. It’s a massive conference battle at the moment and all five teams are still in the running. We’re going for the top spot, it is still possible,” he said.