Sharks see off spirited Leopards
Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:10
Calm under pressure: Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche
The Sharks strengthened their position at the top of the Currie Cup standings after they recorded a 34-20 bonus point win over a spirited Leopards outfit at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Friday.
It was a strange match in many ways but an entertaining one. First the Sharks looked to be running away with it. At times it seemed that it was unopposed practice with slick handling and changes of direction and a bonus point for tries in 29 minutes. After that, more and more as the match went on, it was the Leopards who tugged at the heartstrings with their sheer enthusiasm.
The result was never in doubt but the brave Leopards made it a fun evening, drab as the weather was in Durban where rain had been falling and the wind blew.
The Sharks wanted five log points from the match to stay top of the log. The Leopards, lower on the log and with lowered sights, would have loved a bonus point to keep them above Boland and how they tried to get it, getting stuck in right to the end, running from parlous positions. They kept the game alive.
On the windy evening, the goal-kicking was poor. Juan Martín Hernández converted only one of five tries in the first half. The Leopards missed three penalty kicks at goal. That was not all. The Leopards were denied a try at an intercept for offside which was not obvious and the TMO could not see whether or not Berndt Theissinger had scored a try. On the other hand the Sharks twice lost the ball in the act of scoring.
It was an orderly match. Just two scrums out of 26 were reset. There were early penalties against the Sharks at the tackle and for the rest the ball from tackles was quick and usable. It was an orderly game.
The first try showed the Sharks' intent and their high level of skill. Alistair Hargreaves won a turnover and Hernández started running just inside his own 22. They sped down the left and then went wide to the right where Ryan Kankowski sent Luzuko Vulindlu over in the corner. But despite the sweeping, speedy attack Vulindlu still had to fight off two tacklers to get the ball down. 5-0 after 6 minutes.
Twice the Sharks' cut the line, first when Vulindlu accepted a short pass from Hernández and then when Stefan Terblanche counterattacked and set Murray running in celebration of his 50th Shark cap.
The Sharks' second try came when they snapped up a dropped ball and attacked down the left where Kankowski gave a perfect pass to sturdy Lwazi Mvovo. 10-0 after 21 minutes.
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The next two tries were quick in coming. The Sharks attacked and Hernández threaded a delicate grubber at the posts where Andries Strauss scored. 17-0 after 25 minutes. From a line-out Murray knifed through and the Sharks bashed till they went wide and Strauss skated round on the outside to score. 22-0 and a bonus point.
Mission accomplished.
In the next 50 minutes the Sharks and the Leopards each scored two tries. The foot certainly slipped off the pedal.
Both Leopards' tries came from intercepts and they probably should have had a third. That suggests that they may have been set entirely on defence which would be wholly unfair as they played fine, constructive rugby.
Hernández was forcing a half gap and as he was tackled he passed inside. The man who caught the pass was RW Kember, the big Leopards' No.8. Off he ran, head up, knees up, for 55 metres to score at the posts. 22-7 after 31 minutes.
This was the beginning of increased Leopards' confidence.
Just before half-time Terblanche changed direction and Mvovo went straight through a gap. The wing gave to flank Jacques Botes who scored, 27-7 which became 27-10 at half-time as Clayton Durand goaled a penalty just before the whistle.
Hernández went off early in the second half and both sides gradually emptied their benches.
Ruan Pienaar, playing at scrumhalf with obvious talent but a strange tendency to eat space by taking sideward steps before passing, sent out a long lobbed pass which Theissinger intercepted . Off he went for a try till a belated whistle signalled a penalty against him for offside, though no offside was apparent.
Adi Jacobs came on for Vulindlu but went to outside centre with Murray shifting to the wing. Jacobs scurried brilliantly though a gap on the half-way line, straightened and then gave a short pass to Albert van den Bergh who had a straight 22-metre run to the posts. 34-10 after 59 minutes.
The Sharks did not score again.
The Leopards did. When Monty Dumond threw a long, floated a pass to his left, Jovan Bowles, Durban educated at Marist Brothers, put out a long arm, juggled and raced off to the posts for a try which Jean Tiedt converted.
The Leopards attacked again and first Deon van Rensburg and then Theissinger was close. They had to settle for a
penalty by Tiedt to bring them within bonus point range.
The Sharks had most of the last 15 minutes. They kept the pressure on the willing Leopards and first Kankowski and then Rory Kockott lost the ball when they could have scored tries.
There was lots of virtue in the match - the skill of the Sharks and the tenacity and enthusiasm of the Leopards.
Man of the Match: Stefan Terblanche must have run many, many kilometres in this match. His sense of adventure, his skill and his determination make him our Man of the Match.
The Scorers:
For the Sharks
Tries: Vulindlu, Mvovo Strauss 2 Botes, Van der Berg,
Cons: Hernández, Dumond
For Leopards:
Tries: Kember, Bowles
Cons: Durand 2
Pens: Tiedt 2
Teams:
The Sharks: 15 Stefan
Terblanché (captain), 14 Luzuko Vulindlu, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Juan Hernández, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Alistair Hargreaves, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Patric Cilliers.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Leopards: 15 Danie Dames, 14 Jovan Bowles, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Berndt Theissinger, 11 Jan van Zyl, 10 Clayton Durand, 9 Jean Tiedt, 8 RW Kember, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 André Swanepoel (captain), 5 Draad Linde, 4 Ligtoring Landman, 3 Os van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Divan Kotzé.
Replacements: 16 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 17 Nardus Lombard, 18 Bennie Adams, 19 Riaan Swanepoel, 20 Chris Erasmus, 21 Neil Jacobs, 22 Bom Samaai
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Luke Burger, Reuben Rossouw
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman
Assessor: André Watson
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