The Super 14 reaches the business end of the season this weekend, opening with first place v fourth,  The Sharks v The Blues, in a sudden-death match. If the Sharks win they will host the final next weekend, while a Blues win would see them travel to the winners of the Bulls v Crusaders game.

These two teams met back in Week 11 when the Sharks ran out 32-25 winners. The final scoreline was not a real reflection of the game, as the Sharks dominated for the entire match and the Blues were only able to close the gap to seven points on the stroke of full time.

The Blues were put off their game by the physical play of the Sharks and, in a rare display, lost their discipline,  which led to a large penalty count and eventually a yellow card for Sam Tuitupou.

This year marks the best chance South African teams have had of winning a Super 14 crown in a long time: They have two teams in the semi-finals and an all-South African final is a real possibility

An accurate and deliberate kicking game from rookie first five Francois Steyn helped the Sharks to control the tempo of the game, frustrating the Blues into errors and pushing the visitors on to victory. The Blues were accused of taking the Sharks too lightly after the game, and in some respects they did, resting some of their All Blacks for this encounter.

The loss was also the beginning of a form slump for the Blues, who would go on to lose the next two games before finally securing their semi-final place by beating the Force last weekend. The Sharks’ form is slightly better, going into this match on a two-game winning streak.

The Blues must also deal with the media attention around the sending home of All Black lock Ali Williams. Williams was sent packing shortly after the team arrived in South Africa for breaching the team’s code of conduct. His fate was decided at a meeting between senior players and team management during the flight over and almost all coverage of the Blues has been about him, rather than the up-coming semi final.