On paper it’s a David v Goliath clash. The table topping Crusaders, who have lost only two games all season vs an inconsistent Sharks outfit who only sneaked into the playoffs because the Melbourne Rebels absolutely bottled their chances at the business end of the tournament.
The Sharks have been dreadful travellers this season, but their solitary win on the road was against a New Zealand team (the Blues). They also ran the Canes close in Napier (albeit a Canes side without TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett), and lost by one point after the hooter.
The Durban based outfit are also without star blindside flanker Jean-Luc du Preez, who leads the competition this season for offloads- the Sharks are the competition’s top offloaders, but have struggled to score tries.
All stats seem to point to a Crusaders win, and few expect the Sharks to do an encore of their famous 2014 win in Chch.
94% of those on SuperBru have predicted a Crusaders win, at the time of writing.
Best odds on the Crusaders- 1/10 (BetVictor)
Best odds on the Sharks- 16/1 (SkyBet)