Johannesburg - Comparisons can be odious and statistics misleading, but the facts and figures suggest that the Sharks will return to winning ways in the United Rugby Championship and beat Glasgow Warriors at Kings Park on Saturday.
The Sharks play their first match of the new URC season at the Shark Tank after three matches on the road and will be boosted by the return of half a dozen rested Springboks, while the Glaswegians come to Durban full of confidence after completely outplaying the Bulls last week in Scotland.
However, their record on the road is not flattering and they are going to find Kings Park a major contrast to Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday, with high humidity predicted.
The only time these teams have met was October last year when a nervy Sharks team were first tipping their toes into the URC waters, and icy waters they were in a freezing Glasgow, with the home team winning 35-24 in difficult conditions and on a synthetic surface.
All of the South African teams struggled in October last year when they began the URC with four-match tours just as the northern hemisphere was entering winter, but this year the Lions, Sharks and Stormers are faring much better overseas.
The Bulls lost to Glasgow and in the only other loss for a SA team overseas this season, the Sharks went down to Leinster last week but scored 34 sparkling points and five tries in the process.
The Sharks’ attack looked promising in their other tour matches too — against Zebre and the Dragons — and brushing up on one-on-one defence will have been a major focus this week ahead of facing Glasgow.
Kings Park has been something of a fortress for the Sharks in the URC and their only loss at home was against Edinburgh in monsoon conditions in March.
That loss to Edinburgh and the October loss to Glasgow means the Sharks haven’t beaten a Scottish team yet in the URC and they will be determined to break their duck.
Interestingly, Glasgow’s last 14 matches in the URC have all been won by the home team on the day and the last time they won an away match was in January when they beat Connacht.
Also, Glasgow have lost on their last four visits to SA, since beating the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in September 2018.
The Sharks and Glasgow are due to name their teams for the match on Friday.
IOL Sport