It’s desperation time for the Sharks when they play host to a red-hot Highlanders in Round 12 of the Super Rugby season. Join The Roar for live scores of the match from 1:15am (AEST).
The Sharks are sitting at the bottom of the South African conference after 11 weeks of action and with just seven matches remaining for the season, they need to win a vast majority if they are going to be a hope of pinching a wildcard spot into the finals.
The Durban-based outfit have won just three of their nine matches for the season, with a total of four bonus points keeping them within striking distance of the other South African sides. Of course, that must be taken with a grain of salt given the dominance of the Lions who are running away with things.
The Sharks did pinch a surprise victory over the Stormers at home last week, but the seven-point win was anything but dominant and given 166 points were let in during the previous four rounds, their defence is going to get a work out today against a Highlanders outfit who can run up a total.
The Highlanders are out to end their South African tour on a high note after pinching a one-point win over the Bulls last week.
It came right down to the wire, with the final score reading 29-28, but the Highlanders are just finding ways to get things done at the moment with the club winning their last three straight after a pair of losses had upset their perfect start to the season.
It’s only those losses which have the Dunedin-based outfit away from the top of the New Zealand conference, sitting third, ten points behind the Crusaders, but with two games up their sleeve they will still be confident of bridging that gap and finishing at the top. For that to happen though, a win in this game will be crucial.
Prediction
Even if the Sharks managed to pull off a surprise win over the Stormers last week, it would appear the chance of them doing the same back at home against the Highlanders is low, with the New Zealand side out to move one step closer to the finals.
Highlanders by 15.
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