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.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of the match from 1:15am (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
RobC
Roar Guru
Next is Bulls then Chiefs. Good luck mate! Should be doozies
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Yep Rob. Hopefully it continues!
Fathom
Guest
Typical NZ supporter.
RobC
Roar Guru
Congrats Rhino. Great match.
Charging Rhino
Roar Guru
Great result, as expected. Although I thought it would be 10/12 point margin win so the 26 point margin/thrashing is pleasing :-) Scotty... mate.... clearly not too familiar the Sharks mate.. ;-) I get it if you’re just looking at the win/loss so far this season. Theyre up and down. Will lose to teams they should beat, but will beat the best team in the comp too. Sharks usually win more than they lose against NZ teams. Only the Crusaders really have their number. Struggle more against The stronger/leading Aus teams.
Harry Jones
Expert
SA Conference: All teams have either lost 6 or lost 5 games. That’s it. The only spread is bonus points. Lions have 7; Jaguares 0.
I just don't get how inconsistent the SA teams are. They go from woeful one week, to very strong performances, just to go back to woeful.
ThePunisher
Guest
Dominant display by the sharks, could have been a fair bit more they missed a lot of chances.
Faith
Guest
Chiefs and Landers losses show that they are nowhere near the level of Saders and Canes. Those 2 will take the 2 top spots and good luck to whoever has to play any of them at home ...
Faith
Guest
The Sharks only play well against the NZ sides. I hear they are angling to enter Pro 12 ... Marius V who is the ref here should not control games at this level. Misses forward passes, accidental , no tackle releases etc Sharks good for this but he's played a role ...
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Sharks best game in many many years. Highlanders have no answers no matter how hard they try tonight. Really impressive and complete performance from the Sharks. Sharks will play against the Chiefs when all their AB's are on camp, so they are in the frame for a 3/4 record against Kiwi teams this year (and they were silly close to beat Hurricanes also).