Sharks plod to another win
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:35
The Sharks scored their second win in as many matches, beating the Boland Cavaliers 38-13 in their Absa Currie Cup match in Durban on Friday to go to the top of the standings.
However, while the scoreline may suggest an easy win, the Sharks know they were very fortunate.
Not only did the home side have some assistance from the match officials - who made a couple of questionable calls at crucial stages in the game - but the Cavaliers were reduced to 13 men at one stage and played almost a quarter of the match a man down.
Even Sharks captain Johann Muller admitted during his post-match reaction that they were well off the required pace, especially in a first half when they plodded to a 11-10 lead at the break.
"If we play like that [against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria] next week, we will get a big hiding," the Sharks captain said of his team's below par performance on Friday.
The Sharks deserve credit for securing the bonus point when it seemed a bridge too far, with two tries in as many minutes during injury time giving them a respectable winning margin.
In fact the Sharks scored 21 points, three converted tries, in the final 15 minutes to take the score from 17-13 - with the Cavaliers looking like they may have had a shot at an upset - to the 25-point winning margin at the end.
But during the first 65 minutes of the match the men from Durban did not look like a team that could be challenging for overall honours later this year.
The Sharks were very scrappy, lacked concentration and wasted a host of scoring opportunities with sloppy handling and generally just very ordinary play.
In fact the first try of the match - by Boland centre Lionel Cornelius in the 20th minute - showed up the lack of commitment from the home side ... as he simply busted his way through some ordinary tackling at a time when the Sharks were idling in first gear.
And scrumhalf Rory Kockott, man of the match last week, came close to being the villain this week, so shocking was his performance. His arrogance and cockiness did not serve him well and his frustration soon started showing as he threw a few punches at the opposition.
He can certainly regard himself lucky that the match officials did not spot his attempt at a hay-maker. But then again, maybe they did and felt even that effort was so shocking it was not worthy of a card.
Last week he kicked the winning goal late in the game. On Friday his kicking, both out of hand and at goal, was decidedly patchy. And his match of misery was compounded when he left the field with an ankle injury in the 55th minute.
His departure brought Charl McLeod into the fray and there was an immediate surge in the Sharks' game, as they managed to clear the ball quicker and lifted the tempo.
With the Boland players, who had produced a spirited defensive effort for the first 60 minutes, starting to tire, it allowed the Sharks the extra bit of time and space to run in three late tries.
While the Boland were constantly under pressure in the set pieces, especially in the scrums, they showed lots of endeavour.
However, they lacked the accuracy in the latter stages to trouble the home team.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Botes 2, Swanepoel, Mentz
Cons: Dumond 3
Pens: Kockott 2, Dumond 2
For the Boland Cavaliers:
Try: Cornelius
Con: Peach
Pens: Peach, Cornelius
Yellow cards: Piet van Zyl (Boland, 58 - repeated infringements, not rolling away at tackle), Angelo Brinkhuys (Boland, 66 - professional foul, offside at maul)
Teams:
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Henno Mentz, 10
Andrew Borgen, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Steven Sykes, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Alistair Hargreaves, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Robbie Harris, 18 Nikolai Blignaut, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Monty Dumond.
Boland Cavaliers: 15 Justin Peach, 14 John Daniels, 13 Piet van Zyl (captain), 12 Lionel Cornelius, 11 Alvin Hugo, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Frankie Horne, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Coenie Basson, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Andries Human, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Jean Botha.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Wium, 17 WP Nel, 18 Janro van Niekerk, 19 Frikkie Spies, 20 Angelo Brinkhuys, 21 Neil Papier, 22 Deon Scholtz.
Referee: JC Fortuin
Touch judges: Joey Salmans, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Willie Roos
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
