Waratahs hammer sloppy Sharks
Sat, 24 May 2008 13:46
Try-time: Luke Burgess scores for the Tahs
The Waratahs totally outplayed the Sharks for the second time this season courtesy of a resounding 28-13 victory in a Super 14 semifinal clash in Sydney on Saturday.
The 'Tahs dominated from start to finish and were full value for their victory against a disappointing Sharks outfit.
The Waratahs will travel to Christchurch next Saturday to face the Crusaders in the Super 14 Final.
The pundits expected a closely fought contest - one that never prevailed.
For all the Waratahs brilliance, and that there was plenty of, the Sharks were dreadful. Epi Taione, the Tongan was sensationally thrust into the starting line-up in the place of AJ Venter, had a nightmare. In fact it was probably the worst performance of the entire Super 14 by any player. He dropped ball after ball and seemed hopelessly out of his depth.
The Tongan wasn't the only Sharks player guilty of butter fingers. Time after time the Durban-based
franchise spilt the ball that halted any would-be momentum. But the 'Tahs deserve all the plaudits for not giving the Sharks an inch. They were the better team by a country mile at a packed Sydney Football Stadium.
The home crowd were vocal in their support for their team and even more vocal of their disapproval of the Sharks.
It started when Ruan Pienaar put the Sharks into the lead as early as the third minute with a well struck drop-goal. The 'Tahs fans made it known as to how they felt about drop-goals as they booed Pienaar as the ball sailed between the uprights.
It carried on once the Sharks lost their first line-out in the 11th minute. It was to be the first of many as Bismarck du Plessis struggled to hear the line-out calls amongst the unsportsmanlike booing for the home crowd.
Kurtley Beale had the chance of levelling things up when Bryce Lawrence penalised the Beast for scrumming in. But Beale didn't have his kicking boots on all
night. It could have been much worse for the Sharks if Beale had landed more than his two kicks at goal. Nevertheless the No.10 wasn't made to pay for his wayward right foot.
The 'Tahs did manage to draw level in the 17th minute when that man, Epi Taione drifted off-side. Beale stepped up and made it 3-all.
At this stage the Sharks were competitive, but were making too many errors. Taione knocked on whenever the ball got near him, and the Sharks were losing their own line-outs. Dan Vickerman was superb in this regard. He disrupted the Sharks line-out for the entire 80 minutes, ensuring his team had the better of position.
The Sharks' poor handling eventually caught up with them. Firstly their line-out on their 10-metre line was a mess. This put the backs under undue pressure and Adrian Jacobs threw a terrible pass. It was picked up by the 'Tahs and the ever-present Lote Tuqiri avoided Frans Steyn to score his team's first try of the match. Beale added
the two points. 10-3 after 26 minutes.
From this moment onwards, it was one-way traffic. Four minutes later another Taione error gave the 'Tahs the ball. Beale slipped a clever ball to Dean Mumm who streaked downfield. The Sharks were at sixes-and-sevens and were simply unable to cope with the home team's quick recycling. Sam Norton-Knight received the ball at flyhalf and floated a beautifully weighted pass to rob Horne who dived over untouched to make it 15-3. Beale's conversion hit the posts, but at 15-3, the 'Tahs were looking comfortable.
Sharks coach picked Taione because the Sharks were dominated at the breakdown in their round-robin clash with the 'Tahs. Once again this was proving to be the difference between the two sides. The trio of Waugh, Elsom and Palu were just too good for the opponents.
Moments before the break, the Sharks got a penalty on the half-way after Palu broke early off the scrum. Frans Steyn stepped up and slotted it with
ease. The Sharks were fortunate to go into the break with just a nine point deficit. However the 15-6 scoreline was soon to change.
The 'Tahs came out firing in the second half and it took them barely two minutes to extend their lead. Kurtley Beale started the move and he finished it with a great try. His deft offload to Rocky Elsom put him into space. The ball was recycled quickly for Beale to slide over for his team's third try. Once again, Beale missed the conversion, but at 20-6 ahead, the game looked all but won for Ewen McKenzie's team.
Three minutes later the Sharks had a scrum on their 22-metre line. Kankowski picked up as Kockott drifted wide. The No.8 passed to Kockott but found the hands of Luke Burgess, who strolled over with consummate ease. 25-6 and the game was by all means over with 35 minutes to play.
The Sharks tried valiantly to get back into the contest but they simply weren't good enough. They were turning the ball over far too
regularly to mount a significant comeback.
With 20 minutes to go the Sharks got a free kick after a sustained period on attack. Kockott took it quickly and looked odds-on to score. Somehow Lote Tuqiri managed to stop the nuggety scrumhalf and rip the ball from him. One felt the Sharks were now well and truly beaten. They gave it there all in the lead-up to Kockott's dart, but the resolute 'Tahs defence held firm.
The 'Tahs had taken their foot off the gas knowing full well that they were on their way to Christchurch next Saturday. They were being helped by some ordinary handling, once again, by the Sharks. Ruan Pienaar knocked on, then Albert van den Berg followed suit. It was on of those days that the Sharks would like to forget as soon as possible.
With nine minutes to go, replacement No.2 Craig Burden gave the visitors the faintest of chances when he managed to squeeze the ball onto the try-line under the posts. The conversion was a formality, and
at 13-25 down, the Sharks had a sniff, albeit a very small one.
That sniff was all it proved to be as 'Tahs did not allow them the opportunity to score again.
Instead, Beale sealed the deal with a 78th minutes drop-goal to extent their lead to 15 points.
The final hooter sounded soon after to put the Sharks out of their misery and confirm the Waratahs as victors.
28-13 was the final score at the Sydney Football Stadium which meant that the Waratahs will play in the Super 14 Final next week against the Crusaders.
Man of the match: No Sharks to choose from but plenty of 'Tahs! Beale, Burgess, Carter, Tuqiri, Mumm and Vickerman were all superb. But flank Rocky Elsom was a cut above. The powerful Wallaby was everywhere at once and was a constant menace, both on defence and attack.
Moment of the match: Beale's try. The slick handling in the lead-up to the No.10's try was
quite brilliant and epitomised the 'Tahs performance on the day.
Villain of the match: The match was played in a good spirit, but Epi Taione deserves a mention for a shocking performance.
The Scorers:
For the Waratahs:
Tries: Tuqiri, Horne, Beale, Burgess
Con: Beale
Pen: Beale
Drop-goal: Beale
For the Sharks:
Try: Burden
Con: Pienaar
Pen: Steyn
Drop-goal: Pienaar
The teams:
Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Tom Carter, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Al Manning, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Will Caldwell,
19 David Lyons, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Matt Carraro, 22 Timana Tahu.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Epi Taione, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Keegan Daniel, 21 Bradley Barritt, 22 Waylon Murray.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Television match official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
