The Sharks and the Stormers will be battling it out to be South Africa’s top United Rugby Championship (URC) team when they face off at Kings Park on Friday night.
Although the Stormers are sitting comfortably in second place on the log on 45 points, with the Sharks 12 adrift of them in eighth place, a home win for the Sharks in the only URC match taking place this weekend, would see them make a major move up the table.
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The Bulls also sit ahead of the Sharks in fourth spot on the log with 40 points, but having played 13 games so far, while the Stormers have played 12 and Sharks 11, they may find it tough to keep up with them over the rest of the season.
The Sharks have been firmly on the up since letting go of coach Sean Everitt and replacing him with Director of Rugby Neil Powell, and with them having seven matches left, two of which are against the Stormers, home and away, they can realistically make a play to be SA’s highest placed URC team.
It will however be incredibly difficult as the Stormers have been in strong form again this season, but if the Sharks can pick up two wins over their coastal rivals they will definitely be in the hunt.
First up will be Friday night’s clash, with both teams Bok stars unavailable as they take a month break to rest and recover after an extremely busy past year and a half of rugby.
The Sharks will head into the match off the back of a morale boosting win over Edinburgh in Scotland, while an injury hit Stormers will be smarting after a heavy defeat against Ulster in Ireland.
Big players back
The Stormers will however be welcoming some big players back for the game after they were rested for the Ulster match, which will give them a boost.
Flyhalf Manie Libbok, loose forwards Deon Fourie and Hacjivah Dayimani, hooker Joseph Dweba and prop Neethling Fouche will all be up for selection along with wing Seabelo Senatla who is available after a long injury lay-off.
But it seems like eighthman Evan Roos, hooker JJ Kotze and flyhalf Jean-Luc du Preez will all be unavailable for the match after going off injured against Ulster.
It is thus shaping up to be a thrilling encounter, and with both teams having travelled back from games in the UK over the past weekend, how each side recovers this week could play a telling part in how the match goes.
