JP Pietersen confident Sharks can confound critics and upset Stormers on their home turf

ON paper, there is more chance of pigs flying over the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday than the 14th-placed Sharks beating the log-leading Stormers, but rugby is played on grass, and JP Pietersen says his team is going to the Cape to win.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

If the Sharks get that right, it will be their first away victory over the Stormers in United Rugby Championship history. Four previous Sharks teams have failed.

“Paper tells a different story (to reality),” smiled Pietersen. “What we see in our camp is how we can get better and improve from our last game. The mindset is to go down to Cape Town and give it a full go.

“What is my message to the players? Go out and win the game. That is why we play,” the coach added before pointing out the historical closeness of the matches between the rivals.

“Tf you look at the last four games in Cape Town, there’s been about five points in it. The margins have been close,” he said.

“Hopefully, we can rewrite the story this weekend.”

Pietersen has picked some serious firepower on the bench in Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, Bok prop Ox Nche, and flank Vincent Tshituka as he looks to combat a Stormers bench that has been their team’s saving grace in recent fixtures.