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Sharks stumble to victory in Durban

Fri, 14 May 2010 21:15

No.8 Ryan Kankowski scored a superb try for the Sharks

The Sharks beat the Western Force 27-22 in Super 14 action on a hot Durban evening, a win but not a highlight except for one diamond moment.

Too much of the game was careless and bumbling for this to be a classic but one magic moment made it all worthwhile.

The Western Force were suffering in a scrum near their line but Justin Turner got the ball back to James O'Connor near his dead-ball line and under pressure from Ruan Pienaar who was wandering in his direction and suddenly the game soared high above mediocrity - a moment beyond praise.

O'Connor cut inside Pienaar in his in-goal and then he went outside Riaan Swanepoel outside of his in-goal. He gave to sturdy Mitch Inman who raced down the right side of the field. Challenged, Inman gave back to O'Connor who raced ahead till Patrick Lambie tackled him just before the Sharks 22. The Western Force won quick ball and Turner gave to Tim Fairbrother who gave to Ryan Cross. Cross moved outwards, brushed Steven Sykes aside and gave to Nick Cummins, who scored.

The hot Friday evening in Durban was suddenly worthwhile. It was a moment to preserve for years and years for its audacity, vision, skill and zest. What a try.

It's hard to work out how the Sharks won the match. They were nothing like the zestful team that overran the Stormers last weekend - nothing like it at all. Yet funnily enough they scored tries - three of them. It was only the fourth time in 13 matches that they scored three tries. It was those tries that gave them the victory.

To be fair to them they clearly wanted to end a disappointing season with tries and several times they eschewed simple kicks at goal in search of tries. The intention was clear but somehow it did not seem a conviction - not when you protect the tackle ball so badly and not when you miss so many tackles. Scrumming was their best thing and it was a scrum that set up their second try.

With the forwards inaccurate the halfbacks were inaccurate. Ruan Pienaar and Rory Kockott had been so focussed and enthusiastic against the Stormers but against the Western Force they were lethargic. Natal fever?

The Western Force were more intent but, O'Connor apart, they have no real pressure points. Then they did score the try of the Super 14. The Sharks outscored them three tries to one but that one should have been worth many, many more points.

The Western Force kicked off and won the kick-off, something they did regularly in the match as the laid-back Sharks showed little interest in grabbing the ball. The Western Force then went through 16 phases. From a scrum they went through another six phases till eventually the Sharks broke out as Odwa Ndungane kicked downfield and chased. They went left under advantage and Jannie du Plessis gave to Lambie who gave to Lwazi Mvovo and the speedster had a straight run for a try in the corner. Pienaar converted as he did all three tries.

After they had bungled the kick-off the Sharks attacked but the Western Force broke out and won a turnover off Lambie. Alistair Hargreaves was penalised. Brett Sheehan goaled with a long kick. 7-3 after 19=8 minutes. Hargreaves was penalised again and Sheehan goaled from a long way away again. 7-6 after 25 minutes. Four minutes later Lambie was penalised at a tackle and the Western Force led 9-7 and two minutes after that 12-7 when Rory Kockott was penalised at a tackle. The Sharks were falling limply on their swords.

The Mvovo charged down an attempted clearance by Sheehan and the Sharks had a five-metre scrum. They got a shove on on the right, Kankowski picked up. He ran through Mark Bartholomeusz, a late replacement for David Hill and away from David Pocock to score at the posts. 14-12 after 34 minutes.

In the last six minutes the Sharks attacked till Kockott knocked on, {Pienaar goaled a penalty against Fairbrother and O'Connor goaled a penalty against Hargreaves. That made the score 17-15 at half-time.

In that half the Sharks had been penalised six times, the Western Force four times. This changed in the second half when the 9-2 penalty count favoured the Sharks.

The Sharks mauled from a line-out and the Western Force were penalised. This they made into a five-metre line-out and again they mauled., Again the Western Force were penalised. Again the Sharks made a five-metre line-out and then a maul and this time Jacques Botes scored. 24-15 after 47 minutes.

Pocock burst for the line but Lambie tackled him. The Sharks went through phases till Kockott flung an ugly pass at Du Plessis's feet.

In fact, in the last 33 minutes there were just two scores, but the first of them was that miracle of sheer delight which took the score to 24-22 with 19 minutes to play.

The Sharks ended the scoring with an easy kick at goal. They could have had another but Pienaar missed.

Man of the Match: Jannie du Plessis had probably his best match in a Sharks' jersey, but our choice is James O'Connor, not just for always running to good effect, but for starting that unforgettable try.

The scorers:

For the Sharks:
Tries: Mvovo, Kankowski, Botes
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pens: Pienaar 2

For the Western Force:
Try: Cummins
Con: O'Connor
Pens: Sheehan 2, O'Connor 3

The teams:

The Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Andries Strauss.

Western Force: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Ryan Cross, 11 Cameron Shepherd, 10 Mark Bartholomeusz, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Ben McCalman, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 2 Ben Whittaker, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Sam Wykes, 19 Tom Hockings, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Sam Harris, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty.

Referee: Pro Legoete (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Marc van Zyl (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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