Sharks edge Blues in thriller
Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:00
Off you go: Keegan Daniel scores his first try
The Sharks hung on desperately in the second half to beat the Blues 22-17 in a top-of-the-table Super 14 clash in Durban on Saturday.
The Sharks got off to a flying start, racing into a 19-3 half-time lead.
However the Blues mounted a second half comeback to come within a whisker of victory.
The Sharks' fourth consecutive victory moves them to the top of the log.
The game got off to a sensational start, with Sharks No.6 Keegan Daniel scoring directly off the kick-off!
The ball was tapped back from a Blues hand, only to be gathered by Bismarck du Plessis who timed his pass to Daniel to perfection.
Daniel scampered 40 metres to score within the very first minute! If you blinked you would have missed it!
The Sharks could not gave scripted it better!
Unfortunately for the home team, Kockott's conversion bounced back off the upright.
The Blues seemed to be rattled by the Sharks early try, as the they struggled to get into the game.
They made uncharacteristic errors when they had the ball in hand, allowing the Sharks to dominate possession.
This trend continued for the entire first half.
The Sharks were all over Troy Flavell and his men, defending with aggression and purpose.
The Sharks were rewarded for their efforts when they scored their second try on 20 minutes.
Brad Barritt spotted some space behind the Blues backline and put a clever kick through for JP Pieterson. The wing failed to gather to ball but ever-present skipper Johan Muller was on hand to gather the loose ball and trot over to extend his team's lead.
It was Muller's second try against the Blues, after he scored against them in last year's semifinal.
Kockott was on target with the conversion to give the home team a handy 12-0 lead.
Yet another Blues error soon after resulted in a turnover inside their 22.
The Sharks took full advantage.
They were awarded a penalty and Keegan Daniel took a quick tap and barged over to score his second try of the match - his third in two weeks.
Kockott made it 19-0 on the half hour mark.
Who would have believed that scoreline it after the form shown by the Blues of late.
The Blues were stung into action after conceding their third try, and got there first points courtesy of a Nick Evans penalty.
It stayed that way for the rest of the half.
At 19-3 to Johan Muller's team, there was no doubt as to which camp was the happier of the two at the break.
However, the Sharks spirits were dampened almost immediately in the second half.
The Blues magician, Nick Evans stepping his way through to score under the poles.
The conversion was a formality, and at 10-19, the Blues were well and truly back in the contest.
The Blues continued to dominate possession and territory, a complete turnaround from the first half.
They managed to take the ball through 20 phases before Albert van den Berg was penalised for a high tackle.
A rare miss from Evans let the Sharks off the hook somewhat, after they had spent the previous 10 minutes defending.
It was cat and mouse for the next 15 minutes, with the Durban humidity taking its toll on the players.
Frans Steyn attempted an audacious drop-goal from inside his own half that looked good all the way.
Unfortunately it fell tantalisingly short.
Errors were starting to creep in, understandable considering the pace at which the game had been played at.
Then the Sharks found a second wind.
That had plenty to do with super-sub Adrian Jacobs who looked menacing whenever he touched the ball.
A great break by Jacobs resulted in Troy Flavell giving away a professional foul after the Sharks were all over the visitors.
Kockott tapped over the penalty to make it 22-10 with 10 minutes in the clock.
It looked all over for the Blues.
But they came storming back, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Sharks.
The game was turned on its head once again when replacement Taniela Moa sniped his way through the weary Sharks defence to score.
Evans did the necessary to close the gap to five points. Game on!
The Sharks were never going to be able to keep up that break-neck intensity of the first half - it was now a matter of holding on for the final few minutes.
And that they did!
It wasn't pretty but boy was it effective!
Considering the extreme heat and humidity, both sides displayed the skill and enery levels associated with two top teams.
Man of the match: Bismarck du Plessis was brilliant on his return from injury. His defence was ferocious and his typically bullocking runs kept the blues defence on their toes. However Keegan Daniel, thriving in his second consecutive start was colossal. He scored two tries, his support running was out of the top drawer, and his defence bruising.
Moment of the match: The opening 30 seconds! The two men in question, Du Plessis and Daniel combining brilliantly to allow Daniel to score one of the quickest tries in Super Rugby history.
Villian of the match: Nobody. The game was played in good spirit - hard and uncompromising, but fair.
The Scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Daniel 2, Muller
Cons: Kockott 2
Pen: Kockott
For the Blues:
Tries: Evans, Moa
Cons: Evans
Pens: Evans
Teams:
Sharks: 15 Francois Steyn, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7
Jacques Botes, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Jannie du Plessis.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl Mcleod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
Blues: 15 Ben Atiga, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Lee, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Justin Collins, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Troy Flavell (captain), 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Bryn Evans, 19 Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a, 20 Taniela Moa, 21 Rudi Wulf, 22 George Pisi.
Referee: Brett Bowden (Australia)
Touch judges: Julian Pritchard (Australia), Joey Salmans (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel (South Africa)
