Preview: Bulls v Sharks
Head to Head: Vodacom Blue Bulls v The Sharks (since 2005)
P: 11 W: 2 L: 9 PF: 253 PA: 286
05/08/2005 Blue Bulls 14 Sharks 18 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
21/07/2006 Blue Bulls 28 Sharks 37 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
16/09/2006 Blue Bulls 50 Sharks 32 The Absa Stadium, Durban
28/07/2007 Blue Bulls 10 Sharks 29 The Absa Stadium, Durban
21/09/2007 Blue Bulls 18 Sharks 26 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
05/07/2008 Blue Bulls 35 Sharks 14 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
06/09/2008 Blue Bulls 25 Sharks 34 The Absa Stadium, Durban
25/10/2008 Blue Bulls 9 Sharks 14 The Absa Stadium, Durban (Absa Currie Cup final)
24/07/2009 Blue Bulls 13 Sharks 19 The Absa Stadium, Durban
12/09/2009 Blue Bulls 23 Sharks 29 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
17/07/2010 Blue Bulls 28 Sharks 34 The Absa Stadium, Durban
“The Sharks consigned the Vodacom Blue Bulls to their first defeat in their 2010 Absa Currie Cup title defence when these sides met in Durban in week two following their 34-28 victory at The Absa Stadium.”
Vodacom Blue Bulls’ recent form at home:
• The defending champions have lost only three Absa Currie Cup games in the last two seasons at Loftus Versfeld.
• The Vodacom Blue Bulls suffered a 25-23 defeat to the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs in week three, conceded a 29-23 loss to The Sharks in Pretoria last year and also conceded a 30-27 home defeat to the Lions in 2008.
• The hosts though have secured victories over the GWK Griquas (39-38), Platinum Leopards (43-28) and the Barloworld Toyota Pumas (38-15) at Loftus Versfeld this year.
The Sharks’ recent form on the road:
• The Durban side conceded only one away defeat (40-34) against the GWK Griquas in week one and secured victories on the road against the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs (25-13) and Platinum Leopards (51-6) in the 2010 Absa Currie Cup.
• The Sharks suffered one defeat on the road during the 2009 Absa Currie Cup against Vodacom Western Province. They were also the only team to defeat the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld during last year’s competition.
Additional information:
• Prop Jaco Engels has played a combined total of 91 Absa Currie Cup games for the Vodacom Blue Bulls, Boland Cavaliers and the Platinum Leopards.
• The Sharks centre Patrick Lambie represented the SA Under-20s during this year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina. He also won the Absa Currie Cup Player of the Month award for July.
• Vodacom Blue Bulls winger Mametsa has played 136 games for the Pretoria side since 2002. He has scored 43 Absa Currie Cup tries in his career for the Loftus Versfeld team.
• The Sharks flanker Keegan Daniel scored a hat-trick of tries during his side’s 27-17 victory over the Barloworld Toyota Pumas in week three of the 2010 Absa Currie Cup.
• Vodacom Blue Bulls loose forward CJ Stander captained the SA U20s during this year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina and was a member of the Baby Boks’ squad of 2009 in Japan. He also captained the SA Schools team in 2008.
• Vodacom Blue Bulls reserve flyhalf Francois Brummer and winger Gerhard van den Heever both competed at the 2009 IRB Junior World Championship in Japan for the SA Under-20s.
• SARRA referee Jonathan Kaplan will handle this game between the Vodacom Blue Bulls and The Sharks at Loftus Versfeld.
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