The Sharks and the Bulls will be at each other’s throats in Durban on Friday night.
Rugby writers Mike Greenaway in the
Sharks half of the field and Vata Ngobeni in the Bulls half of the field take a lighthearted look at the match.
Sharks all set to Bull-y their visitors
There was a time when a Pretoria team visiting Durban was assured of their forwards out-muscling their hosts and then bulleting the ball out to the flyhalf (scrumhalf Robert du Preez to Naas Botha for the best part of a decade), and the ball was then deposited near the corner flag for the line-out drive.
Not going to happen on Friday night.
I am not saying the Bulls forwards are powder-puff but the Sharks pack has the best set-piece in Super Rugby, so the only bullying that is going to be done in the scrums and line-outs is by the men in grey and white.
There is a reason why there has been a revolt in Pretoria - no pack worthy of the legacy of the blue jersey, no backline that has a clue what to do and a coach that is looking to the heavens in the hope of a miracle every time the TV cameras switch to the Bulls’ box.
Good luck to John Mitchell to sort out this dispirited bunch. He is in the USA with the Eagles - how Bulls fans will be wishing that the former All Blacks coach was in Durban on Friday night.
Strangely, the one thing the Bulls should be capable of doing on Friday night is run the ball now that a decent backline has taken shape. But opposite them is a Sharks back division that is one of the best in the country. Ask the Stormers, the last (defeated) visitors to Kings Park.
And watch out for Andre Esterhuizen, a Bulls-dozer if ever there was one. The centre is making his comeback from suspension and will be in menacing mood.
He was the early pick for the Bok No 12 jersey (along with Rohan Janse van Rensburg), and he is going to want to give a reality check to Jan Serfontein.
Bulls on rookie
wings and a prayer
“Yes it’s all John Mitchell.”
That has been the
standing joke around Loftus
Versfeld in the past few
weeks as anticipation grows
ahead of the arrival of the
former All Black coach who
will take up his new position
as executive of rugby at the
Bulls midway through July.
Mitchell’s arrival in the
capital is expected to restore
pride but he is also expected
to perform miracles and
haul the Bulls back from the
brink of mediocrity to Super
Rugby’s top table.
But one thing that
Mitchell has not been able to
do is to give the Bulls wings!
Following the tag line of a
world famous energy drink,
the Bulls would have loved
for Mitchell to give them
wings as they face an injury
crisis with their outside
backs.
Kefentse Mahlo will
be the third Bulls wing
to make his Super Rugby
debut in as many games
after Jade Stighling and
Duncan Matthews came in as
replacements for the injured
Travis Ismaiel and Jamba
Ulengo.
The fleet-footed
Matthews scored on debut
against the highly-rated
Hurricanes at Loftus in
their last match before
the June international
window and the
Bulls will be hoping
that Mahlo also
makes an instant
impression in his
first outing at this
level.
All eyes will
be on Mahlo and
Matthews as they
come face-to-face
with veteran Odwa
Ndungane and speedster
S’bu Nkosi but also on the
rest of the men in blue
if they are to unshackle
themselves from the
bondage of defeat
and fly to victory.
The hand of
Mitchell is yet to take
effect on the Bulls but
much will rest with
Mahlo and Matthews to
give the Bulls wings so
they can begin the long
road to redemption and
salvage some pride in a
season gone horribly
wrong and has failed
to take off.