Lambie edges Sharks past Jaguares
The home side spent nearly 20 consecutive minutes inside the Sharks' 22 but some determined and dogged defending kept the home side at bay. Lambie contributed 20 of his sides 25 points to help his team edge the victory.
The match began at a frantic pace with both sides going full out. The SHakrs had a chance to open the scoring in the 7th minute but Patrick Lambie missed the penalty. The Jaguares attack from the restart and fullback Joaquin Tuculet went on a blistering run.
He cut through the Sharks defence, and although he was aided by some poor tackling, he got his side into the Sharks' 22. A neat offload found Tomas Lavinini in support and the lock stretched his legs to grab the first try of the match.
Nicolas Sanchez added the extras to hand the home side a 7-0 lead after eight minutes.
The Sharks enjoyed a neat spell of position for the next seven minutes and were rewarded with six points – two Lambie penalties – after the home side were penalised inside their 22 on both occasions for infringements at the ruck. Sharks trailed 6-7 after 15 minutes.
The homes side were back on the attack and Lavinini was once again at the centre of the attack as his run broke through the Sharks' defence. After a number of phases from inside the Sharks' 22, the Jaguares sent the ball right and scrumhalf Martin Landajo sniped down the short side.
He was brought to ground short of the line and seemed to have propelled himself forward but referee Marius van der Westhuizen saw things differently and awarded the try. Sanchez added the extras as the Jaguares stretched their lead to 14-6 after 19 minutes.
The home side were being spurred on by a boisterous Buenos Aires crowd and that allowed the Jaguares to turn the screw on their opponents. However, despite the momentum being with the home side, the Sharks grinded their way back and got themselves to within two points of the Jaguares.
Lambie slotting a further two penalties to ensure the Sharks took the score to 12-14 after 30 minutes of play.
The Sharks had their tails up and began working their way up field. From a scrum, they threw the ball wide and got themselves within five metres of the home side's try line. Pablo Matera was sent to the bin for repeated infringements inside his 22 and the Sharks took full advantage.
Further pressure on the defence saw Daniel du Preez bash his way through. Lambie added the extras to hand the Sharks a 19-14 lead after 35 minutes.
The Jaguares finished the half on the front foot as they looked to steal back the lead as the half came to an end, however, they could muster just three points via Sanchez' boot in the 38th minute to trail the Sharks 17-19 at the break.
It was a real arm wrestle in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and it was the Sharks who get the first points of the half as Lambie slotted his fifth penalty of the match to make it 22-17 to the Sharks after 50 minutes.
The momentum was with the home side for the next 10 minutes but had no points to show for it, despite having the Sharks under pressure inside their 22. That pressure remained as the Jaguares probed for a gap but the Sharks remained resolute in defence to keep their opponents at bay.
Something had to give though, and with Sibusiso Sithole in the bin for repeated infringements at the breakdown, the resistance was broken in the 72nd minute when Santiago Garcia Botta bashed his way through four defenders to score. Hernandez failed with the conversion as the score was locked at 22-all.
The Sharks went in search of the winning points and found it in the 80th minute when Lambie slotted his sixth penalty to hand the visitors the win.
Man of the match: Joaquín Tuculet was by far the best backline player in either side while captain Agustín Creevy put in a notable performance. Martin Landajo controlled the tempo of the game for his side while Tomas Lavinini was their standout player. Daniel du Preez performed admirable while Keegan Daniel did the hard yards. It would be easy to hand the award to Patrick Lambie for his heroics with the boot, however, the entire Sharks pack gets the nod for their determined defending close to their try line when they were up against it.
Scorers:
For Jaguares:
Tries: Lavanini, Landajo, Botta
Cons: Sanchez 2
Pen: Sanchez
For Sharks:
Try: du Preez
Con: Lambie
Pens: Lambie 6
Yellow cards: Pablo Matera (Jaguares, repeated infringements – slowing down the ball, 34), Sibusiso Sithole (Sharks, repeated infringements – slowing down the ball, 69)
Teams:
Jaguares: 15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago García Botta.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.
Sharks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Patrick Lambie (captain), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Mahlatse Ralepelle, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Lubabalo Mthembu, 21 Joe Pietersen, 22 Garth April, 23 Sibusiso Sithole/Joe Pietersen.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
