The Sharks and Ospreys will face off in Durban on Friday in the first match of round 9 in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Overall URC head-to-head record: Played 1, Sharks won 1

When they last met:

STATE of the URC: Sharks spoil perfect SA weekend

Did you know?

– The Sharks and the Ospreys have only met on one occasion, the Durbanites winning 27-13 in Swansea last October.

– The Sharks loss to Cardiff last weekend was their heaviest league defeat since they lost to the Vodacom Bulls 43-0 in May 2021.

– The Ospreys have lost their last three matches away from home.

– A deadly attacking threat at first receiver, Boeta Chamberlain has given a league-high five try assists, two of which came in the Sharks’ 40-12 victory over the Glasgow Warriors in Round 5.

– In his one appearance so far this season, Jaden Hendrikse made 14 kicks in play for 254 metres. Six of these kicks were retained. Only Gareth Davies of the Scarlets has also kicked so many retained kicks in a match this season.

– Stepping up in defence from the backline, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Werner Kok have won the most turnovers in the Sharks squad.

– Hard-hitter Jac Morgan has made more dominant tackle contacts than any other player in the league (11) and has an impressive tackle success rate of 96%.

– Grinding away in the opposition 22, the Ospreys have had the most rucks in this area which have lasted more than six seconds (28).

– Against the Bulls last weekend, fullback Max Nagy made more contact metres than any other back (24).

URC 2022/23: Get to know Ospreys

Photo: Ryan Hiscott/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix