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Sharks expect Bulls backlash

Cape Town - Sharks assistant coach Sean Everitt says they are expecting the Bulls to hit back hard following their humiliating Currie Cup loss to the Golden Lions last week.

The Bulls were thumped 62-23 at home by their cross-Jukskei rivals last Saturday and this weekend travel to Durban to tackle the Sharks.

"The Bulls will be really upset with the way that they went down against the Lions, I think there were a lot of soft tries that were conceded in that game and the Bulls are a helluva lot better side than what they showed on Saturday," Everitt told the Rugby365 website.

"We are certainly expecting a backlash from them, they have got some very good players, we know that they have got the strongest junior set-up in the country so the youngsters like Jono Ross and those guys have all won junior competitions so they are going to come here and give it a good go I'm sure.

"When you play the Bulls you have got to make sure that you are physically up for the battle because that is where their battle is won so we will need to really defend well and stop their momentum.

"From our side we need to put the ball through phases and be a little more clinical when we have ball in hand."

After losing their first Currie Cup game 32-30 at home to Griquas, the Sharks bounced back nicely to beat the Lions (33-25) at home and the Free State Cheetahs (18-15) away in recent weeks.

Saturday's clash at Kings Park kicks off at 17:05.

Teams:

Sharks:

TBA

Blue Bulls:

15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Ulrich Beyers, 11 Akona Ndungane, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Morné Mellett

Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 David Bullbring, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Tiaan Schoeman, 22 Clayton Blommetjies
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