• Fixtures
• Results

Chiefs edge ill-disciplined Sharks

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:02

Big Chief: A mean-looking mascot

There was drama aplenty in Durban on Saturday before the Chiefs squeezed in a 19-18 victory over the Sharks in their Round One Super 14 game.

The Chiefs had the better of the first half, exerting strong pressure on the home team, but the 6-6 score at the break failed to reflect their superiority.

In the second half the Sharks improved their performance markedly but in the end it was not quite enough to secure victory.

It was the last few minutes that provided the drama and produced an exciting end to a game which had not risen to great heights but suddenly became a match not for the weak of heart.

The Sharks surrendered their lead to the Chiefs as time was running out, then regained the lead from the Chiefs inside the last minute, and then lost it again with the last kick of the game.

In the final analysis though the Chiefs probably just about deserved the win, scoring the only try of the game and capitalising on having 15 men on the field for the last seven minutes to the Sharks 14.

The Sharks lack of discipline played right into the Chiefs hands and cost the home team a victory which was there for the taking.

The weather conditions were hardly conducive to constructive rugby. As if the heat and humidity - over 30 degrees Celsius for a game kicking off at 19.10 - were not enough, we had rain in Durban as well. This provided far from ideal conditions for the players and it showed in the way they played.

The match started with neither team able to penetrate or make real headway for some time.

A neatly judged kick for territory by veteran fullback Stefan Terblanche gave the Sharks a strong attacking position but nothing came of it as they gave away a free kick at the line-out and then a penalty when Tendai Mtawarira failed to roll away at a tackle.

Stephen Donald had a chance to give the Chiefs their first strong attacking position with a kick to touch following Mtawaira's infringement but he failed to find the touchline.

A minute later the Chiefs had the throw in at a line-out in the Sharks 22 but the ball was stolen.

When Terblanche was blown for a side entry at a ruck inside his 22, Donald had his first shot at posts but his angled penalty attempt flew wide.

In the 13th minute Monty Dumond was pinged for failing to release the ball in a tackle and referee Keith Brown warned John Smit that his team had been penalised five times already, four of them at breakdown.

Donald goaled from 40m out to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.

Two minutes later Sharks scrumhalf Rory Kockott had his first kick of the game when the Chiefs were penalised for advancing ahead of a Donald tactical kick and he slotted a penalty-goal from just beyond the 10m line - a superb kick in the conditions. (3-3)

Two minutes later Chiefs fullback Mike Delany was penalised for failing to release the ball when tackled and Kockott put the Sharks 6-3 ahead with an angled penalty from far out.

But in the 20th minute the Sharks were dealt a blow when Smit was yellow-carded for a breakdown offence, being told by the referee that it was for repeated team infringements - their fifth breakdown penalty.

Donald goaled from just outside the 22 to draw the Chiefs level at 6-6.

Hooker Aled de Malmanche launched a promising attack for the visitors when he broke clear and raced 30m upfield. He transferred to stand-in skipper Liam Messam, who fed outside centre Richard Kahui but the first real chance to score a try in the game went awry when Kahui knocked on.

The Chiefs were enjoying territorial superiority and it took a heavy tackle on a rapidly advancing Delany inside the 22 by left wing JP Pietersen to hold them out.

Donald's goal-kicking accuracy let him down again in the 30th minute when hooker Bismarck du Plessis infringed at breakdown to concede yet another Sharks penalty.

The Chiefs had been the better team on the whole in the first half, exerting more pressure on the Sharks than the Sharks had been able to exert on them, but the visitors had been unable to turn their pressure into points and halftime came with the score tied at 6-6.

There was all to play for in the second half, and it was the home team who scored the first points two minutes into the half when a pugnacious De Malmanche was penalised at a maul and Kockott goaled from near the touchline - another impressive kick in the rain.

All the pressure had come from the Sharks in the first eight minutes of the half but a knock-on by Smit and then a free kick at a scrum lost them the territorial edge they had been enjoying.

The closest either team had come to scoring a try came in the 51st minute when Delany chipped from inside his half and right wing Tim Nanai-Williams and inside centre Jackson Willison attacked the Sharks goal-line, but again it was a JP Pietersen try-saving tackle which rescued the home team.

Minutes later the Chiefs piled across the line in a driving maul but TMO Johann Meuwesen ruled that there was no evidence of grounding in the mass pile-up.

From the five metre scrum the Chiefs bashed at the line repeatedly and then spread wide but again a JP Pietersen tackle robbed the Chiefs of a try as the TMO advised that Nanai-Willaims had been forced out just before the corner flag.

Pietersen had been given no meaningful chance on attack but this was his third big tackle of the night, two of them certainly try-saving efforts.

The Sharks fought back and when Donald was penalised at a breakdown Kockott again made no mistake. Having absorbed huge pressure, the Sharks led now 12-6 after 57 minutes.

First right wing Odwa Ndungane and No.8 Ryan Kankowski, and then centres Andries Strauss and Waylon Murray ran strongly at the Chiefs defence. The pressure told as Kockott was given another shot at goal from a breakdown offence just over an hour into the game and he made no mistake from in front. (15-6)

But then Bismarck du Plessis gave away yet another Sharks penalty at a ruck and Donald goaled to reduce the lead to 15-9 with 16 minutes left to go.

The Sharks kept up the pressure when Ruan Pienaaar, on at 10 in place of Dumond, booted a perfectly judged kick into touch near the Chiefs line, but a scrum free kick against the Sharks relieved the pressure on the Chiefs.

A fairly pedestrian game was drawing to a close but there was much drama - and reversal of fortunes - to play out in the last seven minutes.

In the 73rd minute, Bismarck du Plessis was sin-binned for what the referee told John Smit was "a deliberate and cynical late tackle with the shoulder".

Du Plessis's indiscretion put his team under enormous pressure in the last few minutes as the Chiefs tried desperately to pull the game out of the fire.

Willem Alberts was penalised for tackling a player without the ball and then JP Pietersen for failing to release the ball in a tackle close to his line.

Messam tapped and ran and the Chiefs spread the ball wide for Willison to score nine metres in from touch to reduce the deficit to one point. Donald goaled the conversion to put the visitors 16-15 up with three minutes to play.

But the drama was far from over.

From the kick-off Kahui was blown for obstruction in front of his posts just inside his 22 and Kockott goaled to put the home team ahead 18-16 with 40 seconds to play.

However, there was yet more drama to play out.

In what could have been the last movement of the game, Kockott knocked on and Strauss played the ball  in front of him - an undisciplined, unnecessary off-side offence.

As the clock approached 82 minutes Donald's kick to win the game squeezed just inside the right upright for his team to grab a 19-18 victory.

The Sharks came so close to winning but ill-discipline was their undoing. Conceding so many penalties for technicalities, plus a few for foul play, cost them the game. Indeed the Chiefs scored only nine points in the first 73 minutes and then 10 points in the last few minutes while Bismarck du Plessis was sitting in the sin-bin.

Neither team is likely to be very happy with their performance but for the Chiefs at least it was an away win and in the Super 14 victories away from home are crucial to a team's fortunes.

Man of the Match: Liam Messam was the star in the Chiefs team with his exemplary workrate and constructive play a feature of the game. No.8 Colin Bourke and flank Tamerau Latimer deserve honourable mentions too. JP Pietersen had no opportunities to speak of on attack but his three brilliant tackles when the Chiefs looked set to score were crucial to the Sharks. But the Man of the Match must be Rory Kockott, whose goal-kicking was superb in the conditions and general play as scrumhalf impressive too.

Scorers:

For the Sharks:

Pens: Kockott 6

For the Chiefs:

Try: Willison
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 4

Yellow cards: John Smit (Sharks, 20 - repeated team infringements at breakdown), Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks, 73 - foul play, late shoulder charge)

Teams:

The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Adrian Jacobs.

Chiefs: 15 Mike Delany, 14 Tim Nanai-Williams, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Afeaki, 18 James McGougan, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Jarrad Hoeata, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22. Jason Hona.

Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jonathan White (New Zealand), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)

By Len Kaplan

Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising

This site requires cookies to be enabled!

Send Feedback on Rugby365!

News | Tournaments | SA Schools

Copyright © 2009 Primedia Online. All rights reserved. Developed by Primedia Online