adminJohannesburg – By his own admission he was a little rusty in his comeback game, but JP Pietersen is confident he can meet his quest for a far more assured performance when the Cell C Sharks visit Loftus on Saturday to play a crucial Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Vodacom Bulls.
According to the supersport website, a victory at the home of the team that at this stage looks the Sharks’ likely biggest rivals in the battle for South African conference honours will confirm the Sharks’ domination of the race for local bragging rights and also cement their place at the top of the overall log.
Pietersen will have double reason to want to do well though, for it will be his landmark 100th Super Rugby game in the black jersey. For someone who hadn’t played for the Sharks for a while Pietersen didn’t do badly against the Reds last week, when he was effectively forced to start because of the absence of Odwa Ndungane through family bereavement plus the injury that forced out centre Paul Jordaan. He was certainly less rusty than when he had to make another hasty entrance into a starting team at a different level to what he would have been used to in Japan.
And it should be a source of confidence to the Sharks players that after the game in question – the test match between the Springboks and Wales in Cardiff last November – Pietersen quickly regained his finest form in the following matches against Scotland and France. That should be seen as a warning to the Bulls ahead of a game that Pietersen says he is looking forward to excelling in.- Sport24.
Online Reporter