Sharks head to Sydney for semifinal
Sat, 17 May 2008 21:11
Celebration time: Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche
The Sharks will play the Waratahs in Sydney next Saturday in the Super 14 semifinal, after blowing an injury-riddled Chiefs team away - beating them 47-25 in Durban on Saturday.
The seven tries to three victory not only booked the Sharks' place in the play-offs, after they finished third in the standings, but they also knocked their compatriots, the Stormers, out of the semifinals.
At the start of the game the Sharks were sixth on the standings, but they moved past the Hurricanes (who will meet the Crusaders in Christchurch in the other semifinal), the Stormers and Blues with a sublime showing in Durban.
They started off looking tense at the Absa Stadium in Durban; they ended singing and doing the Mexican wave as the party kicked off. The Sharks were through and in style. The nerves were understandable. They had just seen the Stormers blow their chances against the bottom side. The Sharks were never in danger of blowing their chance, not even when the brave Chiefs got to 21-18. There was an air of confidence and competence about the Sharks, a certain calm in contrast with the jitteriness that seemed to best the Stormers.
The Chiefs were brave to the end, despite the crippling absence of so many top players. They even managed to more or less hold their own in the scrums after being destroyed earlier on.
In the end it became a fun occasion.
The Sharks knew what they had to do before kick-off - win with four tries or win by 18 points. They scored six tries and won by 22 points. They will be flying to Sydney.
The Chiefs were the toast of the Super 14 after Round 10 when they beat the Crusaders. Then they beat the Reds and then they went west in more senses than one, losing to the Western Force, the Lions and the Sharks
After their hands were fallible in the early stages the Sharks did all the basics well - the line-outs, the scrum, the kick-offs, the tackle/rucks. That sort of competence breeds confidence.
The Sharks threatened first when a penalty became a line-out which became a maul and then a free kick became a five-metre scrum and they were battering at the line till Bradley Barritt knocked on in a sandwiching tackle.
When the Sharks knocked on lively Brendon Leonard, flown over for the match as injuries bit, countered and only a tackle by Adrian Jacobs on Stephen Donald prevented a try. Then they produced an overlap for Sosene Anesi but it broke down near the Sharks line. Suddenly the Sharks were up and running.
Rory Kockott broke at great speed from about four metres from his line and sent Ryan Kankowski galloping nobly down the field till Callum Brice hauled him down. Suddenly the Sharks were on the attack.
They won a line-out and forged ahead with a maul before going into a pick-'n-drive routing. Then suddenly they left the ball wider to the left and Ruan Pienaar dummied and cut inside Lelia Masaga for a try near the posts. 7-0 after 19 minutes.
Bruce knocked on ands Pienaar got the ball and kicked it, left-footed- down the field where Jacques Botes got the ball. Odwa Ndungane and Barritt and Jacobs were there as the Sharks smelt blood. Jacobs was the one to plunge over for the try. 14-0 after 23.
The Sharks seemed in the way to scoring soon afterwards but Faifili Levave intercepted.
The Chiefs put Masaga away on the overlap. Surely the great finisher would score but Stefan Terblanche and Barritt combined to tackle him out at the corner.
The Chiefs did get a try when Pienaar was adjudged off-side. Barritt had cut Masaga in half with a great tackle, but Pienaar was penalised for being off-side. The Chiefs tapped and Levave forced his way over. 14-5 after 33 minutes. That they had actually scored came as a surprise.
Two minutes later the Sharks got one back. Terblanche kicked a high up-and-under. The ball came to earth and bounced high. Barritt jumped up and got it, passing it to Bismarck du Plessis. The hooker steamed 20 metres down the left to score far out. Kockott again converted. 21-5 after 35 minutes.
Jacobs was off-side and Donald ended the half by goaling a penalty. 21-8.
The Sharks need one more try.
The start to the second half suggested that they would not get it. Astonishingly it even suggested that they would not win.
The Chiefs went through ten phases till Mils Muliaina beat Botes with a hand-off and scored in Terblanche's tackle. 21-15 after 43 minutes.
They countered off a poor kick by JP Pietersen and Donald goaled a second penalty. 21-18 after 46 minutes.
That was the end of their serious challenge - not that they gave up.
The Sharks tapped a free kick and were battering at the line till they themselves were free-kicked. Then they won a turnover and Bismarck du Plessis led the break-out. He gave to Pietersen who gave back to Du Plessis who got away from Aled de Malmanche and gave to Steven Sykes who galloped joyfully over for the bonus-point try. The Sharks now needed just to win the match to get to the semifinals. 28-18.
The Chiefs were awarded a free kick at a scrum and suddenly Donald was racing free for the left corner. But it was a long run and Terblanche was able to tackle him out at the corner.
Having saved the situation Terblanche did his best top destroy it again with a wild quick throw-in which bounced off the goal-post and required much energy and ingenuity to rescue the situation.
Muliaina had been hurt but stayed on. He tried a grubber kick. It was a feeble effort and Albert van den Berg picked it up on the right. Lots of short passes set Ndungane, Botes, and Jacobs running down the tramlines till Jacobs gave to Kankowski who strode over for a try. 35-18 with 18 minutes to play.
The Chiefs should have scored when Sitiveni Sivivatu threw a long pass to unmarked Bruce but the centre knocked on two metres from the goal-line.
The Chiefs were on the attack and Jean Deysel marked a chip. The big man tapped and ran, selling a dummy as we pounded up the field. He gave to Pienaar who gave to Kankowski's who scored over 80- metres down the field. 42-218.
From the kick-off the Sharks went racing down the field with magical interpassing. The whole team seemed to handle more than once. Terblanche and Beat Mtawarira were close before Ndungane nipped over in the right corner. 47-18 with nine minutes to play.
Now they were singing in Durban. First there was tension; then there was fun.
Two penalties set the Chiefs on the attack and, with time up, Viliame Waqaseduadua wandered over for a try at the posts.
Man of the Match: For doing the basics of scrumming and line-out throwing impeccably, for tackling hard, his aggression at the tackle-ruck, for scoring and making scored, our Man of the Match is hooker Bismarck du Plessis, but spare a special thought for Stefan Terblanche.
Moment of the Match: The sight of Ryan Kankowski - upright and noble - striding down the field. Pick any of the three particular occasions.
Villain of the Match: Nobody, though Liam Messam and Keegan Daniel were silly.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Pienaar, Jacobs, Du Plessis, Sykes, Kankowski 2, Ndungane
Cons: Kockott 6
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Levave, Muliaina, Waqaseduadua
Cons: Donald 2
Pen: Donald
Teams:
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Keegan Daniel, 21 Andries Strauss, 22 Waylon Murray.
Chiefs: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Mils Muliaina, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Jono Gibbes, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Aled De Malmanche.
Replacements: 16 John Paeranga, 17 Nathan White, 18 Toby Lynn, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Dwayne Sweeney, 22 Viliame Waqaseduadua.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Brett Bowden (Australia), Pro Legoete (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
