The two teams met earlier this year in Round 11, with the Sharks winning 32-15 at Kings Park in Durban and it is a result that the 'Canes have not forgotten.

Plumtree, who was head coach of the Sharks for several seasons before moving back to New Zealand, pin-pointed a few of the Sharks' strengths that they would need to counter to gain the ascendency in the match.

"The Sharks know what they have to do to beat us. They have a lot of massive characters in that team," Plumtree told nzherald.co.nz.

"They manhandled us, slowed down our ball, our line-out didn't function. We turned over 28 balls.

He added: "They've got some big ball carriers and they are pretty effective choke tacklers, have a good drive and the set-piece is sound. They had the best defence in the competition, conceding the least tries of all the teams. They are a tough wall to break down, and they are a very capable side." 

The Hurricanes are also well aware of their poor record against the Sharks in the last few years.

"One thing about the Sharks, they don't mind touring New Zealand," Plumtree added. 

"The Hurricanes, I think, have beaten them just twice in the last eight occasions. So we have a horrible record against them." 

Meanwhile, Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold said they will be using what they have learnt in that Round 11 fixture against their opponents on Saturday.  

"From a knowledge and a conference point of view, we know that if we play well we have the ability to beat them and I thought we played particularly well that day," said Gold.

"But it is going to be a completely different kettle of fish. They are playing really well at the moment - I thought their performance at the weekend [against the Crusaders] was outstanding and Wellington is a very tough place for us to go.

"We feel confident in that we've played all five New Zealand teams; we feel the preparation is there."

Gold believes they will have to up their game in all facets of play if they are to have any chance of victory. 

"They [Hurricanes] got some serious strengths. From our point of view you have to negate their strengths first and foremost. In a few of the games, we have been good with ball in hand as well and that is one of the things we tend to forget. You need to ask questions with ball in hand. Often many of them [New Zealand teams] have got a drift defence so you know there are opportunities.

"However, with their broken-field runners and offloading game, you have to have a very solid defence and you have to be pretty strict in playing in the right areas of the field, because they play well from turnover ball," Gold added.

Players to watch:

For the Hurricanes: In the pack, Ardie Savea and Dane Coles have been in phenomenal form this season. One is in the back row and the other in the front row, but they are both phenomenal with ball in hand and can cause a few problems at the breakdowns as well. In the backline, Beauden Barrett can set his outside backs alight, while scrumhalf TJ Perenara can be elusive around the rucks.

For the Sharks: In the backline Willie le Roux has got the skills to unlock any defence on the counter attack, while Jon-Paul Pietersen is still a lethal finisher with ball in hand. In the pack Keegan Daniel has the ability to disrupt the Hurricanes' ball at the breakdown and Tendai Mtawarira could be useful in the physical stuff.

Head to head: Beauden Barrett and Garth April are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of experience at this level and it will be interesting to see if the latter can match the former's pedigree on the field. There will also be a keen eye at the breakdowns - Ardie Savea and Keegan Daniel will both have an important role to play in this area of the game.

Prediction: The Sharks have won six of their last nine games against the Hurricanes, though only one of those wins came whilst in New Zealand (in 2010). The Canes have lost seven of nine finals games; both those wins were home wins however. The Hurricanes have won three and drawn one of their last five games against the Sharks on home soil including wins in each of the last two such encounters. The Hurricanes have now won their last five Super Rugby fixtures in succession; the last time they won more in a row was when they opened the 2015 with seven straight wins, a stretch that including three wins against South African opposition. The Hurricanes have won eight of their last nine games against South African teams, though the only blemish in that span came in the most recent such fixtures in a 15-32 loss to the Sharks in Round 11 this campaign. The Hurricanes will have too much firepower for the travelling Sharks and they should win by at least 15 points.

@rugby365com

Hail the Hurricanes! They were magnificent, weather or no weather. This must surely be one of the greatest Super Rugby performances ever and en route they established a record for a play-off match - keeping their opponents to zero. They outplayed the Sharks in every depart, save only the line-outs which despite their unpunished cheating were poor. (They lost eight of 15 throws.) It was above all their vision, energy and handling that had the Sharks licked.

The Sharks never really looked like moving off zero - not after missing three penalty kicks at goal in the first half. After their match their captain Tendai Mtawarira admitted that they were embarrassed. In fact, one wondered why they were there - certainly not to enjoy the weather.

The Sharks' only weapon seemed to be the line-out maul but John Plumtree had his side ready for that and they repelled the Sharks. The Sharks did two other things regularly - profitless pick-'n-drive against tough men and disastrous kicking which the Hurricanes gobbled up. One wonders what has happened to the wonderful, exciting Willie le Roux who kicks, it seems, just for something to do. Mercury has sunk in mediocrity. Even prep school boys know you don't kick into the wind.

A comparison of the two 'back threes' symbolised the difference between the two sides - James Marshall, Cory Jane and Jason Woodward against Le Roux, JP Pietersen and Lwazi Mvovo pretending to be Dilly and Daffy.

The weather was the worst that Wellington can manage - an erratic gale and rain. When New Zealanders talk about a breeze they mean wind and when they talk about wind they mean a gale. On this day they spoke of wind. Not that gale and rain deterred the Hurricanes who so imply played the way they always play.

The Sharks played with the wind or with some of the wind in the first half and ended the half trailing 13-0. Garth April missed two penalty kicks at goal before Beauden Barrett goaled on his first attempt. TJ Perenara had a run from a scrum. April tackled him but was  penalised for not getting out of the way and Barrett goaled, but then it was a night on which he got everything right that mattered. 3-0 after 13 minutes, and the rain came.

The Sharks scrum was penalised  three times till they changed their front row. The first penalty, against Coenie Oosthuizen, gave the Hurricanes a line-out in Sharks' territory on their right. On advantage after the line-out Barrett, into the wind, kicked a long diagonal to the left where Woodward rose up to beat Pietersen for the ball, beat two Sharks. Paul Jordaan tackled him and there was a short burst of fury o the Sharks line till armoured car Loni Uhila came racing in to take a short pass from Perenara and burst over for the first try. 8-0 after 18 minutes.

The next try started with great skill and gross error. Barrett kicked a long diagonal to his right which skidded onto touch. The Sharks won the line-out and played straight to Michael Claassens who knocked on. That gave the Hurricanes a scrum some 10 metres in from touch. Perenara scooted away on the blind side. Mvovo fell between two stools and James Marshall, unmarked had an easy run for the try in the right corner. 13-0 after 22 minutes.

The Sharks came close to scoring. In fact Mtawarira was over for a try but adjudged, to have helped himself illegally to the line, he was penalised.

The half-time score as 13-0 and there were suggestions that the Sharks were not entirely out of the game. But after 11 minutes in the half they kicked twice and  were 27-0 down - out of contention.

Early in the half Dane Coles went off in pain, holding his ribs, his place taken by Durban-born Ricky Riccetelli.

Le Roux kicked and Perenara counterattacked down the left, bumping off Claassens and then passing inside to Woodward, who scored. 20-0 after 47 minutes.

Claassens kicked and near the half-way line Perenara started a counterattacked. He gave to Vaea Fifita. The big lock brushed off April and galloped some 35 metres to score a try which he and his team-mates obviously enjoyed. 27-0 after 51 minutes.

Barrett kicked a diagonal that went out near the cornerflag on the Hurricanes left. The line-out was messy and the Sharks carried over for a five-metre scrum to the Hurricanes. The referee allowed play to develop on advantage. None accrued and he came back to the penalty. Uhila tapped and charged. He was held up but Perenara darted over 34-0 after 59 minutes.

Lots of substitutions happened, including both sets of halfbacks and both front rows. The Sharks seemed to benefit more from the changes though it still was not enough to break into a score or prevent the Hurricanes from scoring their sixth try.

Julian Savea had a strong run and Willis Halaholo broke with much footwork, but the try came from Sharks' error. After the final siren sounded, they suffered two horrible passes along the ground. The second was knocked on and they were penalised for offside at the knock-on. The Hurricanes tapped and Brad Shields burst over for a try converted by Woodward. And the final whistle went, for New Zealand a triumphant sound, for the Sharks a death knell.

Man of the Match: One would love to reward Philip van der Walt but there were far too many Hurricanes who shone in the gloom, from James Marshall to Loni Uhila. Out choice is named Halfbacks - Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara, who ran the game in outstanding fashion and with every sign of thorough enjoyment.

The scorers:

For Hurricanes:
Tries: Uhilia, Marshall, Woodward, Fifita, Perenara, Shields
Cons: Barrett 3, Woodward
Pen: Barrett

For Sharks: None

Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Woodward, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles (captain), 1 Loni Uhila. 
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Mike Kainga, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Vince Aso, 23 Julian Savea.

Sharks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jon-Paul Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Garth April, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira (captain).
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Lubabalo Mtembu, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Odwa Ndungane.

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nick Briant (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)