Bulls are favourites but Sharks love to shock

The Sharks have enjoyed some improbable wins at Loftus Versfeld over the decades and if they shock the Bulls today in a United Rugby Championship encounter (5pm), it will be one of them.

It is well documented that the Sharks have 16 players unavailable — seven of them current Springboks — and while their depth means a competitive side will start the match, it is hard to see them staying afloat deep into the game.

Jake White has picked a bench boasting three Springboks while the Sharks’ substitutes are callow in comparison.

Still, the Sharks could well pull off an upset if their forwards can at least gain parity up front. They have a backline full of running and each player is a game-breaker, from livewire Grant Williams at scrumhalf to the adventurous Jordan Hendrikse at fullback.

Speaking of Hendrikse, he has a siege gun boot and goal-kicking could play a significant role in this match. Nobody will forget his 55m penalty to win the Sharks the Currie Cup final last year and he has carried that kicking form into 2025. He has been successful with 84 percent of his 33 kicks.

Hendrikse shares the goal-kicking duties with flyhalf Siya Masuku, who is even better. He has a 92 percent success rate from 12 attempts at goal.

By contrast, Bulls kickers David Kriel (72%) and Boeta Chamberlain (70%) are not kicking the lights out.

But the Bulls are planning to win this game by suffocating the Sharks up front. Last week, they had a decent Stormers pack in reverse gear in Cape Town and in their previous game they did the same to the Lions.

Three years ago, scrumming was the Bulls’ weakness, believe it or not, and now it is their strength thanks to monsters in Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, plus Gerhard Steenekamp and Akker van der Merwe in their Bomb Squad.

The Bulls are enjoying a hot streak — their last seven games have been away from home and they have five of them.

One of those two defeats was in Durban and White remains bewildered as to how his team conspired to lose 20-17 when they dominated most aspects of the game.

The Bulls doubtless would like to set the record straight with an emphatic victory and they are a different beast in the Bull Ring. A better indicator of how this game might turn out is the corresponding fixture last season when the Bulls put 40 past the Sharks at Loftus.

The Durbanites will have to dig deep and as assistant coach Dave Williams said during the week, “We need a complete performance in all formats of the game. We’re looking to control certain moments and get an advantage in other areas of the game.”

Sharks team

15 Jordan Hendrikse 14 Yaw Penxe 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Lukhanyo Am 11 Ethan Hooker 10 Siya Masuku 9 Grant Williams 8 Phespi Buthelezi 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain) 6 Tino Mavesere 5 Jason Jenkins 4 Corne Rahl 3 Trevor Nyakane 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Bench: 16 Ethan Bester 17 Ruan Dreyer 18 Hanro Jacobs 19 Lappies Labuschagne 20 Jannes Potgieter 21 Bradley Davids 22 Francois Venter 23 Jaco Williams.

Bulls team

15 Devon Williams 14 Canan Moodie 13 David Kriel 12 Harold Vorster 11 Sergeal Petersen 10 Willie le Roux 9 Embrose Papier 8 Nizaam Carr 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain) 6 Marco van Staden 5 JF van Heerden 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Wilco Louw 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Francois Klopper 19 Jannes Kirsten 20 Mpilo Gumede 21 Zak Burger 22 Boeta Chamberlain 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.