Sharks defence keeps Lions at bay
Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:10
Shark attack: Frans Steyn on the burst
The Sharks came out on top in an attritional local derby to beat the Lions 16-8 in their Super 14 clash at a wet Ellis Park.
The match was characterised by furious defence, especially from the Sharks, who made 84 tackles, and prevented the Lions from crossing the try-line until the 78th minute.
The first sight of the Ellis Park pitch was a strange one indeed. It was clearly wet, muddy, and cut up quite badly in certain areas - a far cry from the usual perfect carpet of grass we've come to expect.
The weather was also dark and gloomy, and it would have been very easy to assume that this match was being played at Absa Stadium in Durban. But it was certainly Johannesburg, and if there was still any doubt, then one specific 90-metre punt from Francois Steyn would have confirmed the fact to the scientifically-minded.
The weather dictated the tone of the match - stormy, relentless and not for the faint-hearted. And that was how the Sharks and the Lions approached the game. The Lions' attack was at times stormy and passionate, while the Sharks defence was always relentless.
It is quite remarkable how often these local derbies turn out to be a battle of wills more than anything else. It's not that the match lacked flair - in fact, both sides showed some very classy movement on attack. Yet this match was characterised by the brutal nature of the defence, and specifically, the Sharks' single-minded refusal to give up a lost cause.
Their dogs of war were magnificent - Kankowski, Botes and Daniel all shone very brightly in the fading Highveld light.
The Sharks opened the scoring through scrumhalf Rory Kockott, who slotted a penalty in the fifth minute for a 3-0 lead.
The Lions responded only two minutes later, when flyhalf Jaco van Schalkwyk converted a penalty of his own to level matters.
And that was as close as the Lions came to leading this home fixture. It was certainly not through a lack of trying, but the Lions simply could not make their half-chances count against the tough-tackling Durbanites.
Ross Geldenhuys then proceeded to lose his mind in plain sight, when he tried to crush a prostrate Sharks player with his shoulder. He was sent to the bin for the obligatory ten minutes, and the Sharks took full advantage.
The visitors kicked on with the extra man, and scored 10 points in the time that Geldenhuys was off the field. In hindsight, it was a hugely significant period in a low-scoring encounter.
Frans Steyn spotted a tiny hole on the far touchline during broken play, and burst past Heinke van der Merwe's diving tackle effort. He raced on, and found Waylon Murray in support, who sensed that space was opening up on the near side of the pitch.
Murray changed tack and took off across the field, feeding the skillful Jacques Botes. Botes cleverly passed the ball on to Keegan Daniel, who put his foot down and charged for the try-line. Daniel was miraculously stopped just short of the line, but it didn't matter as prop BJ Botha crashed over the ruck.
Kockott converted and the Sharks now had a strong foothold in the match, leading 10-3 after 17 minutes..
The lead was fortified four minutes later through another Kockott penalty, and it seemed that the match was slipping away from the Lions.
And then the rain came down. Sheets of water pelted down on the Ellis Park faithful and the players. It wasn't comfortable, and it wasn't pretty, and the deteriorating conditions made handling very difficult indeed.
In a way, the rain was the great leveller, and set the platform for the two teams to slug it out physically.
Kockott kicked one more penalty before half-time for a 16-3 Sharks lead.
The second half was the signal for the war of attrition to really begin.
The Lions came out in spirited fashion, and their desire was very admirable. Their intent was clear, and they wanted to win the match badly.
The underfoot conditions were slippery. The ball was slippery. It was tough going. But the Lions kept chipping away, and were starting to take charge.
The home side managed to find a few gaps in the Sharks' defence, but the coastal outfit showed why they were unbeaten in this tournament. Their cover defence was maniacal, and their watchword was 'thou shalt not pass'.
The Lions kept hitting the ball up the line, and the Sharks kept repelling their attacks.
So it went for a while.
The Lions even found the energy to increase their attacking intensity. But the Sharks had the answers, and simply grafted harder to close their opponents down.
In the 73rd minute, it appeared that the Lions had opened a potentially fatal hole in the Sharks defensive line. Miles of space opened up suddenly, and an opportunity beckoned for the Lions to get back in the match.
The ball was fed wide for Jaco Pretorius, who had the try-line in his sights at full cry. But out of nowhere appeared Ryan Kankowski on the cover defence. The tireless No.8 swallowed up the ground at a massive rate, and amazingly caught Pretorius inches short of the line, when it seemed for all money that the Lions centre would score.
Momentum carried the pair skidding over the try-line, but Pretorius lost the ball in trying to ground it. Credit to Kankowski, who had wrapped the player up so well in the tackle.
That hyena-like defence encapsulated the Sharks' defensive effort - it was something very fierce.
There was still time for the Lions to score a consolation. They took the ball through 15 phases, and spread it wide to replacement flank Franco van der Merwe. The big man needed no invitation, and crashed over the unguarded corner for his second Super 14 try.
One last chance for a losing bonus point presented itself to the Lions, but their short line-out move came a cropper through a careless knock-on.
Referee Mark Lawrence blew the final whistle, and it ended 16-8 to the Sharks.
Man of the match: Ryan Kankowski for his all-action performance. He effected a huge workrate, provided great support in attack and still found the speed to hunt down a goal-bound Jaco Pretorius.
Moment of the match: That tackle on Jaco Pretorius by Ryan Kankowski. It was hard to tell who was the forward and who was the backline player...
Villain of the match: Ross Geldenhuys for his thuggery at the breakdown, which was spotted by the officials.
The scorers:
For the Lions:
Tries: Van Der Merwe
Pens: Van Schalkwyk
For the Sharks:
Tries: Botha
Cons: Kockott
Pens: Kockott 3
Teams:
Auto
& General Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Jaco van Schalkwyk, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Ernst Joubert (captain), 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Franco van der Merwe, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Rudi Vogt, 22 Jannie Boshoff.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Francois Steyn, 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 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 AJ Venter, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Frederic Michalak, 22 Adrian
Jacobs.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Joey Salmans (South Africa), François Veldsman (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Dennis Immelman (South Africa)
By Phil Coetzer
