Disciplined Sharks feast on Lions
Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:00
Lion hunt: Flank Franco van der Merwe on the charge
The Sharks moved to second place on the Currie Cup standings, following a 30-19 win against the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The victory came as a result of the Sharks' greater discipline, under immense pressure, in defence and the attacking blunders of the plucky Lions.
It defies logic that the Lions, who dominated the first half, had more than their share of the second half and played some exciting, attacking rugby were 0-23 behind in the 70th minute - which is when they got their first points through a try by captain Cobus Grobbelaar.
Earl Rose's missed conversion was also the first shot at goal by the Lions in a match where the Sharks were forced to make 70-odd tackles - twice as many as the Lions - who had more than 70 percent of the territorial advantage.
Three tries - the same number as the Sharks - in the last 10 minutes were not enough to make up the leeway and the Lions were left to rue a match which they could and probably should have won.
What didn't work under former coach Eugene Eloff was again the Lions' downfall on Saturday.
They created opportunities aplenty, but a lack of constructive play when it mattered and especially in their finishing saw a first half they completely dominated belong to the Sharks with a lead of 17-0 at the break.
The Lions had 58 percent of the possession in this half, dominated the territory stakes by more than 70 percent, had to make only 19 first-half tackles to the Sharks' 45 - and still contrived to let the important home win slip out of their reach.
The Sharks' first try came after a loss of concentration on defence. Running from their own territory, the visitors' forwards and backs combined well until Ryan Kankowski did some smart stepping to beat some tight forwards for a somewhat undeserved but outstanding Sharks try.
But there were earlier missed tackles in this move as well, and that in addition to the squandered chances put the Sharks in control on the scoreboard which made it 10-0 after an earlier penalty and the conversion by Monty Dumont.
It was Kankowski again, with a superb off-load this time, who was influential in the Sharks' second converted try by Craig Burden three minutes before the break (17-0).
In the second half, the Lions also had the better of the play - but knocks, discipline and poor options saw the Sharks score the only points in this third quarter through a second Dumont penalty (20-0).
It became 23-0 after a rare Sharks visit to the Lions 22, mainly because they had the numbers at the breakdown to force the successful Dumont penalty. With 17 minutes left the Lions now needed more than three converted tries to win - an unlikely assignment considering that they had not even had a shot at goal up to that point.
However, they continued to fight and dominate, and scored three tries.
First, they pulled the score back to 23-12 through two well-constructed tries by Grobbelaar and Derick Minnie, with Ruan Boshoff converting the second five minutes from time.
The Lions' chase for a losing bonus point was, however, denied when the Lions were forced to carry the ball back. The Sharks were awarded a penalty try as the Lions disintegrated from the scrum five metres out.
On the final whistle the Lions got a consolation try by Pieter Engelbrecht - his first in the Currie Cup competition - following an interception.
But three tries apiece is scant consolation for a home loss after all the dominance the Lions had enjoyed.
Man of the match: You could look at Ryan Kankowski's creative skills, the breakdown ability of Jacques Botes, or the physical presence of Jean Deysel and Steven Sykes. At the back there was captain Stefan Terblanche, as rock steady as ever. But it was hooker Craig Burden, with his high workrate and great skills that impressed us enough to win our award.
The scorers:
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Grobbelaar, Minnie, Engelbrecht
Cons: Boshoff 2
For the Sharks:
Tries: Kankowski, Burden, Penalty try
Cons: Dumond 2, G Cronjé
Pens: Dumond 3
Teams:
Golden Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Derek Minnie, 21 Pieter Engelbrecht, 22 Ruan Boshoff.
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel,
11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ross Cronjé, 21 Guy Cronjé, 22 Waylon Murray.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referee: Mtheleni Msileni, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
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