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It’s the Sharks’ turn to go on the Australian/New Zealand Super Rugby tour. Tonight, they’re going to kick it off in the most southerly city known to man, Dunedin. There, the boys from Durban will meet the Highlanders. Join us for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm AEST.
Both sides will be itching to get on the winning trail, as the Super Rugby season has only six rounds left.
After being mauled quite literally by the Brumbies, 31-18, in Canberra last round, the Highlanders will no doubt be itching to get a win tonight. Feelings will be intensified by an urge to revenge last year’s very close loss in the quarter-finals stage last year.
The Highlanders have been faring pretty well in this year’s competition, currently riding pretty in sixth place, third in the New Zealand conference. Their loss last week, at least on the face of it, seems very uncharacteristic; they arguably should have performed much better against the Brumbies, a side that hasn’t been without its dramatic wobbles this season.
However, when you factor in the absence of big names Ben Smith, Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa from the Brumbies’ match, you find a rather conspicuous “ahhhh” coming from your mouth. Those names, plus Josh Hohneck and Mark Reddish in the forwards, as well as Gareth Evans and Dan Pryor, are all set to return to the Dunedin side’s starting 15.
The Sharks, on the other hand, had the bye last weekend, so there’s not much to talk about with that. In their preceding four games however, they bonus-point lost to both the Bulls and the Lions and were thumped by the Crusaders 52-10 in that game. They did however, manage to beat 10-game-losing-streak’s Force only 15-9. Hmmmm.
As I mentioned at the very beginning, tonight’s game will be the first of the Sharks’ overseas tour – all their above games were in South Africa, only the Lions’ game was away from Durban – and they will be hoping that, combined with their week off, they can manage to turn around their fortunes. After this, they will travel to Wellington, Sydney and Brisbane in that order, so they should definitely be hoping that they get into gear to prepare for what will be a very tough tour.
On a positive note, the Sharks are sitting at 10th, four places and seven points behind their southerly New Zealand opponents. Their totem, Bismarck du Plessis, is welcomed back after sitting four games out for slipping over and accidentally kicking Michael Leitch (Chiefs) in the face with his studs. Rather honourably, du Plessis has relinquished the Sharks captaincy in order to focus on his game and in an act of contrition; stand-in captain Marco Wentzel will continue his impromptu gig.
The Sharks, semi-finalists last year, had a pretty welcoming draw early on, and their current placing indicates that they’ve blown it, to an extent. This tour could be for them, like it was for the Lions earlier this year, an overdue source of invigoration.
However, the Durban side have the third-worst defensive record (241) in Super Rugby this year, and that coupled with the return of the elite Highlanders – Fumiaki Tanaka is good, but he’s like the Charles Edward Stuart to Aaron Smith’s William Wallace – probably means they’re going to be smashed. Although I’m scared to be bold, as the Sharks may have regrouped and found their spark in their time off.
Prediction: Highlanders by 10
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.