The Sharks and the Lions will try to fly the flag for South Africa in this weekend’s Super Rugby quarterfinals.
Having snuck in at the death to make it to the final eight, the Sharks are expected to be slaughtered by defending champions the Crusaders at the AMI Stadium early Saturday morning.
But it’s the element of surprise that coach Robert du Preez’s men will look to use to their advantage after the Saders admitted earlier this week that they don’t know much about the Durbanites.
SA teams, however, have struggled in Australasia this season and the Sharks know they will have to play out of their skins if they want to be successful against Kieran Read and his teammates.
Down Under this term, the Sharks lost three out of their four matches – beating the Blues 60-43.
TESTS: Lions ace Elton Jantjies. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
They also lost by one point to the Hurricanes (38-37) in yet another high-scoring affair.
Against the Crusaders – who have scored the most tries in the tournament next to the Lions with 77 – the Sharks will have to up their defence big time if they want to get a positive result in this encounter.
To do that, they will have to combat a Crusaders team that plays really well as a unit, with winger George Bridge a real try-scoring threat out on the left wing.
Bridge is the Crusaders’ leading try-scorer this season with 14.
The Sharks, though, will also hope to find some motivation from the fact that veteran prop Beast Mtawarira is playing in his 150th match.
As for the Lions, they are expected to get the better of the Jaguares at Ellis Park and it's a match-up in which South Africa have a lot to lose.
A win for the Jaguares will give their national team Argentina the confidence to beat South Africa at the national home ground.
As SA’s top team in the competition, defeat for the back-to-back finalists will also be a big blow to the confidence of coach Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks.
Sharks v Crusaders:
15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira. Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Wian Vosloo, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Makazole Mapimpi.
Lions v Jaguares:
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques Van Rooyen. Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Courtnall Skosan, 23 Howard Mnisi.
QUARTERFINAL FIXTURES
Friday
Hurricanes v Chiefs (9.35am)
Saturday
Crusaders v Sharks (9.35am)
Waratahs v Highlanders (12.05pm)
Lions v Jaguares (3.05pm)