'Shark Tank' too hot for Lion cubs
Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:44
Flanker Jacques Botes stretches and scores for the Sharks. (c) Gallo
The Sharks backed up last weekend's impressive away win over the FS Cheetahs with a well-deserved 48-19 Currie Cup win over the Golden Lions in Durban on Saturday evening.
A near 50-point scoreline suggests an absolute pounding - but, to be fair to the visitors, they did try... they were just not able to compete with some moments of individual brilliance, and the pressure heaped on them, by the home side.
The match, however, did not quite start the Sharks' way.
Shortly before kick-off it was revealed that livewire Springbok No.8 Ryan Kankowski had been forced to withdraw from the game, with Willem Alberts shifted to the back of the scrum - against his old teammates - and powerhouse Jean Deysel (another former Lion) taking over Alberts's No.7 shirt.
But Deysel did not last long either, being forced off with an ankle injury within the first five minutes, which saw veteran flanker Jacques Botes enter the fray - not quite the rest he had been 'promised' this week as he took to the field for his 100th Currie Cup appearance.
That injury-blow aside, however, the Sharks were first on the scoreboard when Patrick Lambie - starting his first senior match at flyhalf - struck a penalty goal in the fifth minute to edge them into a 3-0 lead; the first of his 28 points on the night.
Lambie's South African Under-20 teammate and opposite number, Elton Jantjies, soon levelled things at 3-3, but the former crossed the whitewash for the first try of the match in the 15th minute as the Sharks continued the trend of just keeping their noses ahead throughout the match.
Keeping with that trend, in terms of the scoring sequence, the Sharks went into the break 18-16 ahead.
The Lions, who had been under the cosh for most of the first 40 minutes, would have been happy with the scoreline; although they looked dangerous with ball in hand and tackled unbelievably well, the Sharks were mostly in control.
The visitors limited the Sharks to just two tries in the first 29 minutes - despite having to make 64 tackles to the eight by the Sharks - and the home side might well have been left wondering about their ability to round off promising moves. They were up by 62 to 19 in the rucks and mauls at the break and had 75% of the possession.
The scrums were initially a bit of a mess, but in this facet the visitors were slightly to the good in the first half, and the poor kick from Sharks captain Stefan Terblanché into the hands of the defending Lions winger Deon van Rensburg - which led to a wonderfully-taken individual try - was a direct result of a dominant Lions scrum.
Both the Sharks' first-half tries were the result of good work and solid building, with the first going to Lambie who broke inside Jano Vermaak after some good phase-play. The second went to centurion Jacques Botes after a half-break by fellow loosie Keegan Daniel.
The two young flyhalf prodigies Lambie and Jantjies were both impressive on attack and in general play, and it was unfortunate when Jantjies's long pass was intercepted by impressive winger Lwazi Mvovo for a try - his fifth of the season - nine minutes into the second half after the two youngsters had earlier traded penalties. (The hard-running Mvovo added another try nine minutes from time - a well-taken effort as he continues to star in the No.11 jersey.)
Mvovo's first try took the score to 28-19 - and when hooker Craig Burden intercepted Vermaak's pass from a ruck ball to make it 35-19, and provide the Sharks with their bonus point, it was all over for the gutsy Lions who did not help their cause by missing two kicks to touch in a bid to add to their solitary try.
Man of the Match: Jaco Taute tried for the visitors... and teammate Elton Jantjies showed nice touches and kicked his goals. Sharks speed merchant Lwazi Mvovo kept up his try-scoring hunger, flanker Jacques Botes had a busy night and all-action hooker Craig Burden did some good things too. However, with July now referred to as 'Patrick Lambie Month', we are going to continue that trend in the first week of August, with impressive No.8 Willem Alberts just missing out here to his younger teammate. Our Man of the Match is none other than Patrick Lambie, Springbok-elect and the name on everyone's lips at present.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Lambie, Botes, Mvovo 2, Burden
Cons: Lambie 4
Pens: Lambie 5
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Van Rensburg
Cons: Jantjies
Pens: Jantjies 4
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Stefan Terblanché (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Willem
Alberts, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Ross Skeate, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Cecil Dumond, 22 Riaan Swanepoel.
Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Trevor Hall, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco Van der Merwe (captain), 4 George Earle, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Ross Geldenhuys, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Ronaldo Bothma, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Carlos Spencer, 22 Marius Delport.
Referee: Jason Jaftha
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: JC Fortuin
rugby365.com, with additional reporting by SAPA
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