Clinical Sharks go top
Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:45
Killer Sharks: Jacques Botes tackled by Griquas
The defending Currie Cup champions, the Sharks, produced a clinical display to beat a rather disjointed Griquas team 41-6 and end the Kimberley team's rather amazing seven-week run at the top of the standings.
The bonus-point win saw the Sharks move to the top of the standings and well entrenched in the play-off race, while Griquas will begin to have doubts about their own semifinal prospects after their second consecutive defeat - having gone unbeaten through the first five rounds.
It was a game in which the Sharks showed just how good they are, considering that they still have a host of Springboks to come back after the Tri-Nations season - just in time for the final month of action.
While Griquas were, at times, their own worst enemies, the Sharks deserve credit for the businesslike manner in which they systematically destroyed the visitors.
Both the Sharks' first-half tries came from opportunistic plays - with the home team pouncing on loose balls. But after the break - with their pack taking control in the set pieces - they were a lot more constructive in setting up their scores
The visitors' scrums were very scrappy and the Griquas line-outs were not too flush either.
Griquas did show some good endeavour, but simply were not clinical enough to be a real threat - with 20-odd handling errors not helping their cause either.
Their basics were simply not good enough to keep them in the game.
Both teams showed good early endeavour, with classic breaks by Riaan Viljoen and Sarel Pretorius snuffed out by the Sharks' cover defence.
And it was the home team that got the scoreboard ticking when flyhalf Monty Dumond slotted a penalty in the sixth minute, after Griquas were caught offside.
The Sharks were just as keen as Griquas to keep the ball in hand and after some great interplay between the forwards and backs the home team won a penalty. They set up a line-out, which turned into a scrum and became another penalty. This one Dumond slotted to give his team a 6-0 lead towards the end of the first quarter.
That became 13-0 in the 24th minute, when Sharks centre Waylon Murray managed to interfere with a Naas Olivier pass as Griquas attacked near halfway. The bouncing ball sat up nicely for Murray, who collected to sprint all the way to the line for the first try. Dumond had little trouble with the conversion.
Griquas next scoring opportunity - following those early forays - came in the 29th minute. Sharks flank Jacques Botes broke early at a scrum and Naas Olivier made him pay by slotting the penalty.
However, all the good work was undone minutes later when Griquas hooker Ryno Barnes was yellow carded for tripping, using his feet instead of hands to tackle Sharks lock Johann Muller.
And Barnes was joined in the sin bin by Sharks prop Wiehahn Herbst, who was carded for dangerously charging into a ruck with his shoulder.
Olivier slotted the subsequent penalty and at 6-13 Griquas were looking to bounce back.
But a soft try by scrumhalf Charl McLKeod, who picked up a loose ball and sprinted 15 metres to the line, along with Dumond's conversion, made it 20-6.
Griquas gave up a penalty shot at goal, to set up a line-out, but their attempted maul fizzled out very quickly and a golden opportunity at closing the gap was wasted - leaving the Sharks with that 14-point advantage going into the half-time break.
Discipline, or rather the lack of it, continued to bedevil Griquas, as the penalty count mounted going into the second half.
The Sharks' third try looked as easy as the first two, but there was a lot more in terms of creative endeavour to this - with Stefan Terblanche starting the move, Keegan Daniel's explosive pace breaching the Griquas defence and flyhalf Monty Dumond on hand to collect the inside pass and sprint over. Dumond added the conversion and at 27-6 it appeared the game was over as a contest.
Griquas had their moments, but on two occasions in the third quarter they had kickable penalties, went for the maul from a line-out and their efforts fizzled into nothing.
The bonus-point try came in the 63rd minute, when from another Griquas error, the Sharks took it wide to the left and Lwazi Mvovo beat the cover defence with pure pace to go over - a copybook bit of finishing by the wing. Dumond made it 34-6 with the conversion.
The fifth try was a power play - with the Sharks scrum demolishing their rivals and Keegan Daniel picking up at the back of the marauding pack to score. Dumond made it 41-6 with his fifth conversion - keeping his 100 percent kicking record for the game intact.
Griquas, try as they might, failed to get that consolation score and the Sharks recorded a win that was far more convincing than what most pundits would have expected.
Man of the match: There was good work done by Waylon Murray on attack and defence, Monty Dumond was business-like, Keegan Daniel energetic, Jean Deysel physical and Craig Burden produced his normal high workrate. But our award goes to Sharks captain and fullback Stefan Terblanche for his amazing ability to control the game from the last line - always looking as if he has ages with the ball in hand. He seldom makes an error and his kicking out of hand was yet again world class.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Murray, McLeod, Dumond, Mvovo, Daniel
Cons: Dumond 5
Pens: Dumond 2
For Griquas:
Pens: Olivier 2
Yellow cards: Ryno Barnes (Griquas, 31 - foul play, tripping), Wiehahn Herbst (Sharks, 34 - foul play, charging in with a shoulder at a ruck)
Teams:
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche
(captain), 14 Chris Jordaan, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Guy Cronjé, 22 Patrick Lambie.
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Egon Seconds, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Nolan Clark, 19 Heinrich Stride, 20 Sean Plaatjies, 21 Trompie Nontshinga, 22 Gavin Passens
Referee: Phillip Bosch
Assistant referees:
Lourens van der Merwe, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
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