Sharks determined to break Bulls jinx
WHILE vengeance and a deep hunger for log points will be hanging heavily in the air of the Sharks’ change room at Loftus Versfeld around 5pm today, the atmosphere next door will be just as emotionally charged as Bulls coach John Mitchell gives his charges a final reminder that it is “now or never” for them in Super Rugby 2018.
The Bulls are in the SA Conference cellar after consecutive losses to the Highlanders and Stormers while the Sharks are still smarting from the 40-10 humiliation they suffered at the hands of the same team in Durban a month ago.
The Sharks are also desperate to build on their fine performance last week in beating the Highlanders 38-12, a bonuspoint win that moved them up to third on the table and within touching distance of the log-leading Lions.
The stakes are high for both teams and the 5.15pm kick-off will start a battle of nuclear proportions. Both sets of players will be motivated and the talk from each camp this week has been about the need to physically dominate their opponents, especially in the set pieces and at the breakdowns.
Recent history is not in favour of the Sharks. They have not beaten the Bulls in the last four years of Super Rugby. The Sharks have lost five and drawn one during this period, and those losses came against Bulls teams that were significantly inferior to the current team coached by former All Blacks coach Mitchell.
The SA Conference is fascinatingly close this year, with Sharks coach Robert du Preez describing it as far more competitive than last year, with no easy fixtures whatsoever.
An indication of the closeness of the teams is the current form of the Argentine Jaguares. They were bottom of the conference until the halfway stage when things suddenly turned remarkably around for them – from nowhere they conjured up four wins in Australia and New Zealand to shoot them up to second-place.
In short, with the race at the top of the standings heating up, neither side at Loftus can afford to lose ground to the Lions and the Jaguares. The expected closeness of this dogfight is reflected in the bookies not being entirely sure who is going to win. One agency, Bet.co.za favours the Bulls to win by just 3.
The tightness of the anticipated struggle is reflected in the mouth-watering match-ups amongst the sets of players.
There is Warwick Gelant and Curwin Bosch squaring up at fullback; Springbok contenders Lukhanyo Am and Jesse Kriel do battle at outside centre and the two rugged inside centres, Burger Odendaal and André Esterhuizen, are set for seismic collisions.
Both sides have sharp-shooters of note in flyhalves Handré Pollard and Robert du Preez. Both have hardly missed in their kicks at goal this season and Du Preez is the competition’s leading points scorer (132). Pollard has not been too shabby himself – the Bulls have finished six of their last eight games with a 100%goal-kicking accuracy, missing just three of 29 attempts at posts in that time.
Interestingly, the Bulls have scored more first-half points (164) this season than any other team in the competition.
In contrast, the Sharks have spent much of the season starting badly and the games where they have delivered excellent performances have been when they started well, thus making it a priority for them. To reiterate, then, an explosive start to this match is a given and confidently pick a winner at your peril.