Aphelele Fassi set to be Sharks' 'weekend special' in URC encounter against the Lions

Life in the Shark Tank is looking rosier after successive wins, and JP Pietersen will be hoping to make it three in a row when the Lions visit for a United Rugby Championship derby on January 3.

Pietersen – and former coach John Plumtree, for that matter – know only too well that things can turn very quickly in sport. Pietersen has had most of his Springbok players back, and this week it will get even better with the return of Aphelele Fassi at fullback.

The "Weekend Special" missed the 21-12 defeat of the Bulls because of a concussion picked up the week before against Saracens, but he should have a clean bill of health by January 3.

In the Bulls match, flyhalf George Whitehead’s second-half appearance was his last for the Sharks, as his loan period from Griquas is over. Timeously, the Sharks are expecting to have Siya Masuku back from injury to cover Jordan Hendrikse at flyhalf.

The latter had an impressive performance against the Bulls. He had been used mostly at fullback while Fassi was out with his long-term ankle injury, but last week he was back in his preferred position, and Pietersen was pleased with his management of the game.

Jordan combined well with his brother, Jaden, when the latter came on for the final fifteen minutes. The two of them created the two late tries that saw the Sharks pull away from the Bulls.

Around 45,000 Durbanites crammed into Kings Park for the Bulls game, the largest crowd since the 2012 Currie Cup final.

The Sharks’ marketing department had bombarded social media as they hyped up the annual SharkFest (a massive fun fair on the outer fields), so it will be interesting to see what size crowd turns out for the visit of the Lions, which will be a simple rugby match without the bells and whistles.

With respect to the Lions, they are not the drawcard that the Springbok-packed Bulls and Stormers are. Still, the Sharks are winning again, and those who were there were thrilled to hear the deafening Kings Park roar once more, and may return.

Also, the Lions are playing good rugby after a poor start to the season. They looked the better side in Cape Town for long periods and are a different team now that Quan Horn, Morne van den Berg, Ruan Venter, and Asenathi Ntlabakanye have returned from a rest period.

The Lions picked up a bonus point in their 34-27 loss and are seventh on the URC log. The Sharks have improved from 14th to 12th, and a home win over the Lions would see them advance further towards the top eight.