Coenie on Friday’s big-bang night

DURBAN: Sharks and Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen reckons the Bulls are saving their best for last in Super Rugby, and they are going to hit Kings Park with a big bang on Friday night.

“I think we have all seen how a number of Bulls players have hit form either for the SA “A” team or the Springboks, and being proud players they are not coming to Kings Park to go through the motions having suffered so much Super Rugby pain. They are coming to Durban to prove a point, but we will be ready for them. We know what frame of mind they will be in and we have the added goal of playing for log points to get up into a good position (to avoid playing a quarter-final in New Zealand).”

Oosthuizen, who had a brilliant series of cameos off the bench against the French, said the stuttering Bulls of March and April would be a different proposition now.

“We know that right now they are not the same team, And they are not an accurate reflection of where they should be on the log,” Oosthuizen said. “A lot has changed at Loftus in recent weeks (mostly the appointment of Director of Rugby John Mitchell), and with so many of their players hitting form on the international stage in June, they are coming to Durban to give us a smack. They want to finish Super Rugby with a bang, and they do not care about the Super log — they are out of the reckoning but that makes them all the more dangerous because they can just play for the heck of it. They don’t give a damn.”

Oosthuizen said that the Sharks had proved what they could do with a strong winning performance against the Stormers in the final match before the June window.

“South African derbies bring out the best in the teams because the players know each other so well and how best to get under the skin of each other,” the loosehead prop said. “It is good mates trying to niggle each other because we know each other so well, and we know what buttons to press to unsettle each other.”

Oosthuizen said that like being part of the Boks, returning to the Sharks was like the reunion of a brotherhood.

“We play for each other, as you saw against the Stormers, and we love attacking rugby, and we will continue to chase the bonus point while the Bulls have their reasons to finishing with a flourish,” Oosthuizen said. “So I have no reason to think this is going to be a fine Friday night spectacle.”