Brumbies sneak up on stunned Sharks
Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:08
Gotcha: Brumbies defenders swarm Odwa Ndungane
The Brumbies kept their slim hopes of a semifinal spot alive by beating the Sharks 27-21 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
The Brumbies overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the South African outfit, who had a terrible second half. The Sharks could only muster a late penalty in the second period, and had no answers to the late surge from the Australians
The Brumbies kept their slim hopes of a semifinal spot alive by beating the Sharks 27-21 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
The Brumbies overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the South African outfit, who had a terrible second half. The Sharks could only muster a late penalty in the second period, and had no answers to the late surge from the Australians.
The touring Sharks are doing a very good impression of a muscle car that is running out of fuel.
They look good, they're making all the right noises, and they have been going fast, strong and forward, until recently. Over the past few weeks, they have been stuttering and jerking, and the indications were that they were slowing down.
Now they are struggling to keep going, and have slowed down to the extent that others are threatening to overtake them.
Not many people would have chosen the Brumbies as the team to end the Sharks' unbeaten run. The Canberra outfit, however, are a team looking forward, and are laying very positive foundations for years to come, and their resilience should be commended.
They have been floating in lower mid-table for most of the season, and it would have been very easy to dismiss them as an also-ran team that don't have anything to play for, and won't reach the semifinal spots even though they have a chance.
But that is exactly where one would be wrong. The Canberra boys showed that there is still plenty to play for, and they also showed that it takes 80 minutes of ultimate effort to dispose of them.
The Sharks only played for 40 minutes, and they paid a very big price for that mental lapse.
The visitors got the ball rolling, or should that be sailing through the uprights, when Rory Kockott slotted a penalty on 11 minutes. At this stage the Sharks looked lively and were intent on stamping their authority all over their hosts.
The KwaZulu-Natalians stretched their lead further through a cheeky drop-goal from Steyn on 22 minutes, which made it 6-0 for the visitors.
More great work from the Sharks led to a try for the in-form Ryan Kankowski, and Kockott converted to increase the lead to 13 points.
The Sharks were then guilty of sloppy play bordering on negligent. Frans Steyn must take much of the blame, as it was his low-percentage flick pass in midfield that presented Adam Ashley-Cooper with an easy intercept, and he accepted the invitation to put the Brumbies on the scoreboard. Gerrard converted to make it 7-13.
Brumbies scrumhalf Patrick Phibbs managed to drop the high ball from the restart, and it gave Steyn the chance to atone for his error. Kankowski was once again the driving force, and he sliced through a gap in the Brumbies line, and fed the ball to the talented Steyn to score.
Kockott failed with the conversion, but the Sharks were well ahead in this contest.
Unfortunately for them, they couldn't find the same purpose in the second period, and the Brumbies began their comeback through a try by No.8 Julian Salvi, moments after Kankowski was sent to the sin bin by referee Bryce Lawrence for going off his feet at the ruck.
Gerrard converted once again to make it 14-18.
The referee was becoming an increasing factor in this match, and the Sharks seemed to be getting more and more frustrated by Lawrence's seeming inconsistency at the breakdown. The South Africans were losing momentum fast, and gradually the Brumbies slipped into the lead, courtesy of two penalties from fullback Gerrard.
The tables had turned on the Sharks, and nothing they tried seemed to bear fruit for them for the remainder of the match.
The straw that broke the Sharks' back came along on 66 minutes. Francois Steyn was once again the culprit, as referee Lawrence decided that he did not release the ball in the tackle, and brandished the yellow card once again.
The Sharks could not recover from this, and their defence struggled to cope in the absence of Steyn. Adam Ashley-Cooper was once again the man to take full advantage of this fact, and he scored his second try of the match to the delight of the home crowd.
The dependable Gerrard put the match out of reach for the Sharks with the conversion, and the scoreboard read 27-18.
The Sharks desperately tried to keep their unbeaten status intact and frantically scrambled at the Brumbies defensive line, but a late penalty from Ruan Pienaar was all they could show for their efforts.
That penalty did bring the consolation of a losing bonus point for the Sharks, which meant that they regained second spot on the log from the Waratahs, who overtook them temporarily.
Man of the match: The dependable Mark Gerrard had his kicking boots on, and his kicks kept the Brumbies in the contest at times when it looked like the Sharks could run away with it.
Moment of the match: Adam Ashley-Cooper's intercept and try started the comeback for the Brumbies.
Villain of the match: There wasn't much nastiness, but Francois Steyn was twice culpable, and his mistakes cost the Sharks dearly.
Scorers:
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Ashley-Cooper 2, Salvi
Cons: Gerrard 3
Pens: Gerrard 2
For the Sharks:
Tries: Kankowski, Steyn
Cons: Kockott
Pen: Kockott, Pienaar
DG: Steyn
Yellow cards: Ryan Kankowski (Sharks, 48 - repeated infringements, playing the ball on the ground); Francois Steyn (Sharks, 66 - professional foul, not releasing the ball)
Teams:
Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Peter Playford, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Francis Fainifo, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 George Smith (captain), 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Salesi Ma'afu, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Ben Alexander, 20 Stephen Hoiles, 21 Joshua Holmes, 22 Sanualio Afeaki.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Francois Steyn, 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 Steven Sykes, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 AJ Venter, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Waylon Murray, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Grant MacNeill (Australia)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)
Assessor: Brendan McCormick (Australia)
