Daniel hat-trick seals Sharks win
Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:53
The Sharks were made to work hard for a 27-17 Currie Cup win over the Pumas in Durban on Friday, a game that will be best remembered for No.8 Keegan Daniel's hat-trick of tries.
The Sharks, despite trailing 10-17 at half-time, produced a more accomplished performance in the second half to record their second win of the season.
The Pumas, who were still in with a shout going into the final 10 minutes, saw their hopes of an upset slip away when they were reduced to 14 men.
Jaco Bouwer was yellow carded in the 51st minute for repeated infringements and then picked a second yellow card for the same offences in the 72nd minute, which ended his game.
It also cost the visitors dearly, as the Sharks scored the match-winning and bonus-point fourth try after the second yellow - which became a red card.
Hooker Craig Burden were very prominent in a number of forays by the Sharks in the early stages, but the opportunities were not closed out.
In fact, the Pumas opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter, completely against the run of play. The Sharks were dispossessed of the ball in the Pumas' 22 and a great breakout resulted in No.8 Christo le Roux evading a few tackles to score under the posts. Ricardo Croy added the extras - 7-0.
It took the Sharks another 10 minutes to open their account. A penalty to the Sharks was kicked to touch. They won the line-out and produced a great maul from which Keegan Daniel scored, Patrick Lambie kicked the conversion to level the scores - 7-all on the half-hour mark.
Almost immediately the Pumas regained the lead - a well-struck drop-goal by Croy. However, a minute later Lambie put his team back on level terms with a penalty, after the Pumas were penalised for cynically killing the ball.
The Pumas were not about to roll over and play dead. They won a turnover deep in Sharks territory and after a couple of well-worked phases prop Ronnie Uys was driven over. Croy added the conversion to give the visitors a surprising 17-10 half-time lead.
The return to action of burly loose forward Willem Alberts early in the second half brought immediate results for the Sharks.
A barn-storming run left a hapless defender prone on the floor and set up a scrum for the Sharks. From the set piece they worked through a number of phases, with scrumhalf Charl McLeod scoring his team's second try. The conversion by Lambie was as clinical as the build-up to the try - 17-all.
The Sharks now had the momentum and after another strong build-up, won a penalty. They kicked to the corner and from the maul Daniel scored his second try. The conversion was wide, but the home team had the lead for the first time - 22-17.
With just two minutes left on the clock Daniel scored his third and the Sharks' bonus-point try. The conversion was wide, but the Sharks held on for a hard-earned 27-17 win.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Daniel 3, McLeod
Cons: Lambie 2
Pen: Lambie
For the Pumas:
Tries: Le Roux, Uys
Cons: Croy 2
DG: Croy
Yellow card(s): Jaco Bouwer (Pumas, 51st min & 72nd min - repeated infringements, killing the ball)
Red card: Jaco Bouwer (72nd min - two yellow cards)
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Stefan Terblanché (captain), 12 Patrick Lambie, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Steve Meyer, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Patric Cilliers.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Ross Skeate, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Rory
Kockott, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Andries Strauss.
Pumas: 15 Carl Bezuidenhout, 14 Ashwin Scott, 13 Shaun Venter, 12 Siviwe Magaba, 11 Allister Kettledas, 10 Ricardo Croy, 9 Jacques Coetzee, 8 Doppies le Roux, 7 Alwyn Bester, 6 Corné Steenkamp, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Eduan van der Walt, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Hannes Franklin (captain), 1 Ronnie Uys.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Dawie Steyn, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Elgar Watts, 22 Tiaan Marx.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (SARU)
Assistant referees: Tiaan Jonker (Lions), Reuben Rossouw (KZN)
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