Bulls shock means Shark warning in place for Leinster

Nobody is really expecting the Sharks to beat Leinster today but very few fancied Connacht last night either.

Leo Cullen has plenty on his plate and while there may not be blood in the water, this fixture and where it falls in Leinster's season, and the removal of nine players from the side that beat Toulouse, might provide enough chum to draw the attention of a few hungry Sharks.

Leinster beat the South Africans by 20 points when the sides met in round four of the regular season back in October.

But the 54-34, eight-try to five win, doesn't tell the full story.

A recap: Cullen loaded up his team with Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Ryan Baird, while Garry Ringrose came on after 21 minutes for Jordan Larmour.

The Sharks, then under coach Sean Everitt who stepped down in November, were playing the third game of their Euro tour having flown from Italy to Wales, picking up wins against Zebre and Dragons, all minus their Springboks contingent.

They gave as good as they got in the opening half, sharing six tries equally with Leinster and trailing by just a point at the break. Ringrose came up with two of the home side’s five-pointers.

An incredible try-of-the-season contender by Thaakir Abrahams had the visitors within a point and it wasn’t until the 60th minute that Leinster began to pull away.

Henshaw, Rob Russell and Sexton scored tries before Aphelele Fassi struck from long-range for a consolation.

The Sharks were down to 14 after having Rohan Janse van Rensburg sent off when John McKee put the icing on the cake with a late score.

Today they are without South Africa stars Siya Kolisi and Eden Etzebeth but line out with Springboks Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Ox Nche and Bongi Mbonambi, making eight