Saturday afternoon will see the final league phase of Super Rugby 2014 come to an end when the Cell C Sharks travel to Newlands in Cape Town to face the DHL Stormers.

At the time of writing the Sharks have not yet released their team, with Jake White still waiting to hear on the fitness of Patrick Lambie and Paul Jordaan. Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira has earlier in the week tweeted that a scan had ruled out the need for an operation, but that he will still be away from the field for another 2-3 weeks due to a neck injury.

Patrick Lambie

Lambie will be given as much time as they can afford, he is just that important to the Sharks and their chances of winning their maiden Super Rugby title. Lambie has not played any rugby since picking up an injury in March against the Bulls, so to rush him straight into the starting line up might be a risk. Jake White has made no secret that Lambie is his number 1 flyhalf, but even he must realize that the bigger picture should be the play-off’s.

The Sharks have already secured the South African Conference and by Saturday morning SA Time they will know whether they have any mathematical chance of securing the all important 2nd spot on the Combined Log. The match between the Crusaders and Highlanders will be eagerly watched by the Sharks.

However, for the Sharks to win with a four try bonus point against a resurgent Stormers side, they will have to pull a rabbit out of a hat. The Stormers haven’t conceded a point at Newlands since the 70th minute win against the Force in Round 14 on the 17th of May. They then kept the Cheetahs scoreless by beating them 33-0, travelled to Durban and shocked everyone by beating the Sharks 21-19 and last week once against managed to keep a clean sheet against the Vodacom Bulls, prevailing 16-0.

In contrast, the Sharks have regressed since returning from their overseas leg, where they won 3 from their 4 tour matches. What made the feat even more remarkable is that they beat the Crusaders in Christchurch while playing the majority of the match with 14 men, and at one stage 13. They were the only SA side to win in Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

After doing all this hard work, they lost to a Stormers side missing many of their first choice players in Durban and again went down to the bottom of the table Cheetahs last week, thereby all but scuttling their chances to finish even 2nd on the Combined Log.

Sharks winger Lwazi Mvovo admitted that fatigue has played a part in their late-season slump.

“I was tired at the Springboks, but we are professionals and have to bear it and move on,” said Mvovo. “Lots of guys have also been rested and some others have played a lot, it’s a matter of just performing on the week and doing the recovery after the weekend and getting back on your feet again.”

Sharks front row forward Jannie du Plessis has called on his side to ‘go back to basics’.

The Stormers will not be meekly surrende to their coastal cousins or be doing them any favors. One would presume that the Sharks have just that little bit more to play for and should be the more desperate of the two sides, but then again, that was the thinking when they played against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week as well. It turned out that the opposite was true.

The Stormers will be saying goodbye to Gio Aplon after the match, the winger will be off to France, so we can be sure that he will want to leave Newlands on a high.

So, who will win on Saturday? Will Lambie be fit and if so, will he start or play off the bench? How desperate are the Sharks?

Should the Stormers win, the Sharks will go into the play-off phase having lost three in a row, and their last two at Kings Park, against the Highlanders and the Stormers. That is not good for the confidence of any side, so a win on Saturday will be hugely important for the men from Durban, if only to get their campaign back on track.

I will back the home side to win on Saturday by less than 10 points. Of the two sides, the Stormers look to be finishing stronger and since the arrival of Gert Smal, coupled with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude, they have started playing a more balanced game.

Let us know what your predictions and thoughts are on this match!