Sharks shaky, but still in the hunt

THE game against the Sunwolves was expected to be a walk in the park for the Sharks. However, they huffed and puffed their way to a 40-29 victory to reach the play-offs.

Now, after six months of bone-crushing Super Rugby, the Sharks have reached the knockout stage of the tournament, albeit after a dramatic day of final round-robin fixtures. The Lions obviously felt that finishing second on the log would be to their advantage as they sent their second string side to Argentina and got their desired result: a 3422 loss to the Jaguares.

The Hurricanes achieved an expected result when they choked the Crusaders 35-10 and leapfrogged the Lions into first place on the log. The result meant that the Sharks, who were preparing to take on the Lions in the play-offs, now need to pack their bags for a trip down to New Zealand and a date with the Hurricanes.

The Sharks have had a indifferent campaign this season.

They started poorly at home, had a brilliant tour of New Zealand and were shaky after the international break. However, they are still alive and in the hunt.

On Saturday at 9.35am in Wellington, the Sharks will come face to face with their former coach John Plumtree, who will be in the Canes box plotting the Sharks’ demise.

Finally, there is some positive news emanating from the Sharks boardroom, with former Springbok and Sharks captain Gary Teichmann, who has a proven business record with Bell Equipment and Teichmann Construction, will be the Sharks’ new chief executive officer. He is due to take over from John Smit in October.

Can this positive news be the catalyst to inspire the Sharks to a unlikely victory and re-ignite their chances of lifting the trophy?

For this to happen the forwards led by “The Beast and Co” have to be on fire and starve the Hurricanes’ backs of the ball.

And let’s not take our eyes off what should be a breathtaking battle between Sharks’ JP Pieterson and Canes’ Julian Savea.