In-form Hollywoodbets Sharks centre Andre Esterhuizen says Ulster will be difficult to bring down in his side’s final round robin URC away match in Belfast on Saturday.
The Durban outfit head into round 16 well-placed in fourth overall with 49 log points to their name, eight clear of fifth-placed Benetton, after picking up a last-minute 18-17 win at Edinburgh last week.
With upcoming clashes against Ospreys and Scarlets at Hollywoodbets Kings Park set to end off their regular season campaign, the result of the matchup in Northern Ireland will be huge if they are to maintain the pressure on the third-placed Bulls (54 points).
“Training has been good,” said Esterhuizen on Thursday. “The boys look focused and ready for the task ahead. The mood in the camp’s great, everyone’s in good spirits – we’ve been having a good tour so far.”
The hulking World Cup-winner was far and away his side’s best player in the Scottish capital a week ago in a relatively lukewarm showing overall from his teammates. They’ll need to improve fast though with 10th-placed Ulster still fighting for a spot in the playoffs, the experienced Esterhuizen is anticipating another tough 80-minutes.
"Man is a freak!" 🤯
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 23, 2025
Five days later and we're still figuring out how Andre Esterhuizen stopped Edinburgh from scoring this try 😤
One of the standout #VURC moments of the weekend 👏 pic.twitter.com/I3h0SkW9p5
“It’s obviously going to be a big, big game. It’s a massive game for them, their last home game. They’ll obviously be very amped up, [it’s] a few of the big players’ last home game for Ulster.
“It’s going to be hard and physical and fast. They’re obviously a great attacking side so our defence needs to be on point. We also need to be sharp on our attack to obviously execute all the opportunities we get to be successful over the weekend to put an end to a successful tour.
“We’re all looking all looking forward to the game.”
Kick-off at 20:35.
