Sharks bring out the big guns for Rainbow Cup SA climax

The Sharks welcome back a clutch of their stars for their final round PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA clash against the Bulls in Durban on Saturday.

The match is in effect a virtual final for local bragging rights, but the Bulls can finish top even if the suffer defeat at Kings Park.

Stars coming back

After the enforced resting of Springbok players last weekend in the Sharks’ match-winning performance against the Lions head coach Sean Everitt has been able to bring back squad leaders Lukhanyo Am and Siya Kolisi. Curwin Bosch returns at flyhalf and Aphelele Fassi will be back in the number 15 jersey.

There is plenty of history between the two sides and while the recent past didn’t quite deliver the result the Durbanites and their fans may have wanted, Everitt admitted that his side goes into this match confident in their ability.

“In the last outing at Loftus, we were in the game at half-time and leading, I thought we dominated for 50 minutes but unfortunately unravelled in the last 20 or so and conceded four soft tries, so we have to look at the game as a whole and put it into perspective,” he said.

After losing twice in this competition, the Sharks hit back last weekend to open up the title race and Everitt expects nothing different when his team host the Pretoria side. The match also saw Makazole Mapimpi score on his return to the Sharks side.

“We’ve bounced back before and we haven’t lost to the Bulls at home, so we’re very keen to turn the tables on them at home,” Everitt said on Thursday.

“The Bulls have improved as well, they’ve found ways to win, they’re a good team, but the result against the Lions gave us a lot of confidence for this game.”

The Sharks will name their replacements later this week.

Sharks team

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Anthony Volmink, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 JJ van der Mescht, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Khwezi Mona. Replacements: To be confirmed.