The second part of Super Rugby Round 15 has just four matches with two on Friday and and two Super Rugby matches on Saturday.
The weekend kicks off in Durban South Africa where the Sharks host the Bulls and the round finishes in Johannesburg with the Lions hosting the Sunwolves.
The New Zealand and Australian teams have a bye.
Sharks v Bulls Super Rugby Preview
Durban Super Rugby franchise the Sharks have been cruising towards the Super Rugby play offs and although they have not impressed week after week they have steadily progressed towards the last eight.
Now that the Super rugby break is over the Sharks need to start building momentum for the knock out stages. The Bulls on the other hand are playing for pride as they cannot make the last eight but the players will want to impress their new incoming boss John Mitchell.
The Sharks have played the Bulls 25 times and won 9 matches or 36% of the clashes. In Durban the teams have met 12 times and the Sharks have won 5 matches and lost 7. The stats mean little for this match though as the Bulls have struggled this season and are still building.
Average score: Sharks 21 Bulls 19
Last five results
Fri, 18 Mar 2016 Sharks v Bulls 16-16 Pretoria
Sat, 18 Apr 2015 Sharks v Bulls 10-17 Durban
Sat, 28 Feb 2015 Sharks v Bulls 35-43 Pretoria
Sat, 22 Mar 2014 Sharks v Bulls 19-23 Pretoria
Sat, 15 Feb 2014 Sharks v Bulls 31-16 Durban
Sharks overall record against the Bulls
Played 25 , Wins 9, Losses 14 , Draws 2
Match Officials
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 1:Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Ref 2: Quinton Immelman
TMO : Shaun Veldsman
Teams
Sharks
15. Curwin Bosch,14. Odwa Ndungane (v/c),13. S’bura Sithole,12. Andre Esterhuizen,11. Sbu Nkosi,10. Garth April,9. Cobus Reinach,8. Daniel du Preez,7. Tera Mtembu,6. Philip van der Walt (c),5. Stephan Lewies,4. Etienne Oosthuizen,3. Coenie Oosthuizen,2. Franco Marais,1. Thomas du Toit
Replacements:,16. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17. Juan Schoeman ,18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Hyron Andrews,20. Jacques Vermeulen,21. Michael Claassens,22. Jeremy Ward,23. Marius Louw
Bulls
Warrick Gelant, Duncan Matthews, Jesse Kriel , Jan Serfontein , Kefentse Mahlo , Tony Jantjies, Rudy Paige, Nic de Jager, Jannes Kirsten Ruan Steenkamp , RG Snyman , Jason Jenkins, Conraad van Vuuren ,Adriaan Strauss (c), Lizo Gqoboka,
Replacements: Jaco Visagie,Pierre Schoeman, John-Roy Jenkinson,, Renaldo Bothma,Shaun Adendorff, Andre Warner ,Burger Odendaal ,Tian Schoeman
Jaguares v Kings Super Rugby Preview
Argentina’s Jaguares have played the Southern Kings three times since the SouthAfrican side joined Super rugby last season. In those three matches the Jaguares have won two and lost one.
The teams have played each other just once in Buenos Aires and that match was by far the biggest result between the teams as the Jaguares won 73-27 last year.
The Kings have had to travel for this contest while the Jaguares have had almost two weeks at home to prepare for this match.
Average score: Jaguares 45 Kings 27
Last three results
Sat, 25 Feb 2017 Jaguares v Kings 39-26 Port Elizabeth
Fri, 27 May 2016 Jaguares v Kings 22-29 Port Elizabeth
Sat, 30 Apr 2016 Jaguares v Kings 73-27 Buenos Aires
Jaguares overall record against the Kings
Played 3 , Wins 2 , Losses 1 , Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown
Assistant Ref 1:Pali Deluca
Assistant Ref 2:Damian Schneider
TMO :Santiago Borsani
Teams
Jaguares
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando,12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez,9 Martín Landajo (c), 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro,2 Julián Montoya, 1 Lucas Noguera
Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Ignacio Larrague, 20 Rodrigo Báez, 21 Gonzalo Bertanou,22 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 23 Santiago Cordero
Southern Kings
15 Malcolm Jaer , 14 Wandile Mjekevu , 13 Berton Klaasen , 12 Luzuko Vulindlu , 11 Makazole Mapimpi , 10 Lionel Cronje (capt) , 9 Louis Schreuder , 8 Andisa Ntsila , 7 Tyler Paul , 6 Chris Cloete , 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys , 4 Irne Herbst , 3 Ross Geldenhuys (v/c) , 2 Michael Willemse , 1 Mzamo Majola
Replacements : 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Schalk Ferreira, 18. Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19. Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20. Thembelani Bholi, 21. Stefan Ungerer, 22. Masixole Banda, 23. Yaw Penxe.
Cheetahs v Stormers Super Rugby Preview
Bloemfontein based Super Rugby franchise the Cheetahs are second in the Africa 1 Conference and directly behind the Stormers who they host in this match.
While the Cheetahs are directly behind the Stormers in Africa 1 Conference, in the overall standings there are 11 teams between them.
The Cheetahs have played the Stormers 18 times in Super Rugby and they have won five matches and lost 13. At home in Bloemfontein the Cheetahs have played the Stormers 8 times and won four.
This season the Cheetahs have played 15 matches and won three while the Stormers have played 12 and won seven which suggests the Stormers should win this comfortably.
Average score: Cheetahs 18 Stormers 27
Last five results
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 Cheetahs v Stormers 10-53 Cape Town
Sat, 28 May 2016 Cheetahs v Stormers 24-31 Cape Town
Sat, 05 Mar 2016 Cheetahs v Stormers 10-20 Bloemfontein
Sat, 30 May 2015 Cheetahs v Stormers 12-42 Cape Town
Sat, 02 May 2015 Cheetahs v Stormers 25-17Bloemfontein
Cheetahs overall record against the Stormers
Played 18 , Wins 5 , Losses 13 , Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant Ref 1:Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Ref 2:Stuart Berry
TMO : Willie Vos
Teams
Cheetahs
Ox Nche, Elandré Huggett, Johan Coetzee, Armandt Koster, Reniel Hugo, Henco Venter, Uzair Cassiem, Niell Jordaan, Tian Meyer, Niel Marais, Raymond Rhule, Clinton Swart, Francois Venter (c ), Sergeal Petersen, Clayton Blommetjies
Replacements : Joseph Dweba, Charles Marais, Tom Botha, Justin Basson, Oupa Mohoje, Fred Zeilinga, Ruan van Rensburg, William Small-Smith
Stormers
15 SP Marais, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Dillyn Leyds (vice-captain), 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynardt Elstadt, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 EW Viljoen, 23 Seabelo Senatla.
Lions v Sunwolves Super Rugby Preview
Johannesburg’s Lions are second in the overall standings while the Sunwolves are the last placed team in the overall Super Rugby standings.
Given where the teams are placed few will be picking the Sunwolves to win a match that will be played at altitude.
The Lions have only played the Sunwolves once but they won the match comfortably. This season the Lions have played 13 matches and won 12. They have only lost once.
The Sunwolves in comparison have played 12 matches and won one.
Average score: Lions 26 Sunwolves 13
Last results
Sat, 27 Feb 2016 Lions v Sunwolves 26-13 Tokyo
Lions overall record against the Sunwolves
Played 1 , Wins 1, Losses 0, Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Egon Seconds
Assistant Ref 1:Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Ref 2:Archie Sehlako
TMO : Johan Greeff
Teams
Lions
Jacques van Rooyen , Malcolm Marx, Ruan Dreyer, Andries Ferreira, Franco Mostert, Jaco Kriel ©, Kwagga Smith, Ruan Ackermann, Ross Cronjé, Elton Jantjies, Courtnall Skosan, Harold Vorster, Lionel Mapoe, Ruan Combrinck, Andries Coetzee
Replacements : Akker van der Merwe, Corné Fourie, Johannes Jonker, Lourens Erasmus, Cyle Brink, Faf de Klerk, Jacques Nel, Sylvian Mahuza
Sunwolves
15 Yasutaka Sasakura, 14 Takaaki Nakazuru, 13 Ryohei Yamanaka, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Teruya Goto, 10 Jumpei Ogura, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Willie Britz (c), 7 Shokei Kin, 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Kotaro Yatabe, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Yasuo Yamaji, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Masataka Mikami
Replacements: 16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Koki Yamamoto, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Malgene Ilaua, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Kotaro Matsushima
