Sharks make a meal of it against Lions
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:39
Calm under pressure: Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche
The Sharks had to fight to the bitter end and managed a fortuitous 19-17 win over a fearless Lions team in their Currie Cup encounter in Durban on Saturday, but it is a result that saw the home team lose their place at the top of the standings.
The Sharks needed a bonus-point win to edge Western Province at the top of the standings, but they were never structured enough to take advantage of the opportunities they created and managed just one try.
They will take the win - which leaves them on 49 points, the same as WP, but in second place on points difference - but will ultimately be very disappointed with their overall performance and their inability to get that vital bonus point.
For the Lions, the result means the end of their play-off dreams - although they could still have a big say in the final shake-up in the semifinals.
The Lions play WP in Johannesburg next week and should they win or even prevent Province from getting a bonus point, as they did with the Sharks on Saturday, it will allow the men from Durban to sneak back into first place in the final weekend of league action.
The consolation for the Sharks is that they will host one of the semifinals.
There were some really entertaining moments by the home team, with sublime passages of basketball-type interplay.
But the Sharks also produce equal shares of really ordinary rugby.
Credit must also go to the Lions, who made a real fist of it and right until the final hooter were in with a very real chance of upsetting the Sharks.
The Lions were committed on defence, and scrapped for every bit of possession - especially at the breakdown, where they forced the Sharks into conceding a host of penalties. Captain Cobus Grobbelaar was again the main instigator in putting the opposition under pressure - with good support from American import Todd Clever when he came on as a second-half replacement.
However, they were also not able to make use of the many opportunities that presented themselves to the visitors.
The lead changed hands several times, as both sides searched desperately for the winning touch.
Two early Ruan Pienaar penalties were wiped out through a Herkie Kruger penalty and brilliant score by Lions scrumhalf Chris Jonck in the 14th minute - as the Lions worked the ball around the blindside and found the Sharks defence wanting.
That put the Lions in the lead until a sweetly-struck Juan Hernandez penalty in the 32nd minute put the home team back in the lead.
The Sharks finally managed a try, after threatening for extended periods of the first half, when Lions lock Nico Luus for repeated infringements at the breakdown.
The penalty was turned into a line-out, from which the Sharks drove strongly and hooker Bismarck du Plessis sat at the back of the maul to score the try.
Pienaar added the conversion and even though Kruger kicked a penalty right on the half-time hooter, the Sharks held a five-point (16-11) lead at the break.
The visitors managed to cut the deficit to two points with a third Kruger penalty almost straight after the restart for the second half and then when Kruger left the field with a swollen eye, Chris Jonck kicked a penalty to give the Lions the lead again going into the final quarter.
It was not until the 71st minute that Pienaar regained the lead for the Sharks.
And in the final 10 minutes the Sharks hung on grimly, despite having a couple of chances to make the game safe, as the Lions tried desperately to steal a win.
Man of the Match: Lions captain Cobus Grobbelaar, as always, gave 100 percent, while No.8 Willem Alberts was again very strong with the ball in hand. Sharks No.8 Ryan Kankowski showed touches of the sublime skill he has, but also tended disappear at times. Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche was the rock that kept it all together and produced a couple of brilliant counter attacks. Ruan Pienaar was solid at scrumhalf and showed that he can be a reliable goal-kicker. However, our award goes to Lions scrumhalf Chris Jonck, who showed that there is life after Jano Vermaak at the Lions. Jonck was the general that gave the visitors direction.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Try: B du Plessis
Con: Pienaar
Pens: Pienaar 3
DG: Hernandez
For the Golden Lions:
Try: Jonck
Pens: Kruger 3, Jonck
Yellow card: Nico Luus (Lions, 38 - repeated infringements at the ruck)
Teams:
The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques
Botes, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Golden Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jannie Boshoff, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Chris Jonck, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Torrie Meyer, 17 Wayne Swart, 18 Willem Stoltz, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Ruan Boshoff, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Pieter Engelbrecht.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
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