Sharks and 'Canes share the spoils
Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:27
Come on: Odwa Ndungane and Ryan Kankowski
The Sharks maintained their unbeaten run in the Super 14 by the skin of their teeth courtesy of a 13-all draw against the Hurricanes in a controversial affair in Wellington on Saturday.
Rory Kockott had the opportunity to win it for the Sharks in the 79th minute but his penalty hit the upright.
The Hurricanes then mounted an attack and could have won it themselves in the dying seconds.
What drama! What controversy! It was wet and miserable in Wellington on Saturday night, a dreary match till the last eight minutes. Those eight minutes were charged with drama and controversy and are sure to be the cause for much anger in New Zealand.
Whew! Wow! and all sorts of similar exclamations.
In those eight minutes, which started with the score 6-all, there was a penalty try, a try with a conversion from far out in the rain, a penalty that hit the upright and the big contrivers of the night - a close call right in the corner as the final siren wailed.
The Hurricanes ended angry. All of Wellington was angry. All of New Zealand was angry. The Sharks may just have been lucky - very lucky.
Let's start at the end.
Rory Kockott's penalty goaled was going over. Then it swerved slightly to the right and then it hit the upright and bounced out. The Hurricanes, drawing 13-all but wanting victory, ran but conceded a line-out to the Sharks near half-way. The Sharks won the line-out and mauled. Frédéric Michalak kicked a high one down into the Hurricanes 22 where Hosea Gear marked the ball. He tapped and Piri Weepu ran, beating Adrian Jacobs before he was tackled near his 10-metre line on the Hurricanes' left. Ryan Kankowski was penalised at the tackle. Willie Repia tapped and the ball went right. Ma'a Nonu gave to Conrad Smith who stepped brilliantly inside Stefan Terblanche. There was only François Steyn to beat. Smith gave to Shannon Paku. Steyn tackled Paku into touch a metre or so from the corner flag but Paku had managed to fling the ball infield as the final siren sounded. Falling back Terblanche put a hand up and knocked the ball back over his goal-line. Half a metre from the line Brad Barritt grabbed Smith. Terblanche and Thomas Waldrom scrambled for the ball. Terblanche seemed not to ground it and Waldrom may well have but that was all in vain as the referee had blew the final whistle for what he perceived as a knock-on by Smith, who was indignant.
Thus ended a draw.
Draws are usually unsatisfactory and easily forgotten. This one will not be forgotten. The controversy and argument and anger will not easily go away.
But the scoreboard will not go away either. It will stay 13-13 to the crack of doom.
What happened most in the game happened in those last eight minutes, and much will be said and written about them.
First there was the rain. New Zealanders who call strong wind a breeze, called this a heavy drizzle. It was rain, falling straight down, and as a result there was much kicking. There was so much good handling in the match that one wondered why there was so much kicking. The Sharks, to start with, hardly passed the ball. Ruan Pienaar kicked relentlessly from the base, once close to disaster. Playing so conservatively, his rush of blood to the head near his own line was so surprising.
But his errors were as nothing compared to Neemia Tialata's. Tialata's indiscretion was as nothing compared to Epeli Taione's violence which earned him a red card. The Tongan giant, who can play in the pack or the three-quarters, playing his second match for the Sharks since his arrival from Japan, was not long on the field was shown a red card for a headbutt to the jaw. His contribution to the Sharks in the 2008 Super 14 may be less than 40 minutes - that after great expense.
Tialata's first error was to concede a penalty for side entry. Pienaar goaled and the Sharks led 3-0 after 6 minutes.
Pienaar kicked a routine kick and Corey Jane kicked back, a brilliant kick. It went into touch just before the Sharks' cornerpost on their right. Jane was there and so was Jason Eaton but Pienaar chose to throw back, as the ELVs allow, to Terblanche in his in-goal where Jane and Eaton collared him and forced a five-metre scrum. The Hurricanes battered and Johann Muller was penalised for going in at the side. 3-3 after 154 minutes.
That was the scoring for the half though the Sharks came close. Steven Sykes - a lock - broke clean through Chris Masoe and ran some 18 metres into the Hurricanes' 22. The Sharks went right and Pietersen footed into the right-hand corner where he, Terblanche and Jane dived for the ball. The television match official ruled that nobody had grounded it and that it was a drop-out. Just before the break Steyn missed with a long-range kick.
The Sharks had had the better of the half but the score was 3-3.
The Sharks attacked when Gopperth bobbled the ball and coin ceded a line-out. When Weepu, Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo bungled they conceded a five-metre scrum to the Sharks. The scrum did not happen as the referee awarded an impatient free kick.
Then the Hurricanes had a chance when So'oialo charged down a Pienaar kick and footed it into in-goal but the perverse ball, Terblanche and touch-in-goal managed to deny the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes conceded three penalties for foul play - an air tackle in a line-out by Tialata, a late tackle by Jane and then a shoulder charge by Tialata which the referee labelled "deliberate, intentional, dangerous and late". That sent Tialata to the sin bin.
Jane's late tackle on Michalak was goaled by Steyn from a metre inside the Hurricanes' half. 6-3 after 52 minutes.
When Terblanche a Steyn bungled and were caught near touch, Terblanche was penalised but Gopperth missed the kick.
Then came Tialata's action and a penalty which Steyn missed. Soon after there was Taione's madness and a penalty which the Hurricanes made into a five-metre line-out. The Sharks were well organised and drove the maul over the line for a line-out to themselves, five metres from their line.
They blew it when they threw over the top and Jacques Botes dropped the ball. The Hurricanes battered and Albert van den Berg was penalised. Gopperth lobbed the easy kick over. 6-6 after 67 minutes.
Jacobs dropped for goal and was well and truly wide, Gear made a mess and that gave the Sharks a line-out just inside the Hurricanes' 22. The Sharks mauled from there and drove and drove. Five metres from the line, Andrew Hore pulled down on one side and Masoe on the others with others trying to get the juggernaut down but the Sharks were over. The referee decided that it was a penalty try. Kockott converted. 13-6 with eight minutes to play.
Eight minutes of drama.
Jane had a great run down the right and the Hurricanes were stopped just five metres from the Sharks' line. Michalak was off-side and the Sharks were penalised near their posts. The Hurricanes opted for a scrum and battered at the line. The Sharks were penalised again,. The Hurricanes tapped and Collins drove at the line. From the tackle/ruck Hore drove over through Steyn and Barritt.
It was not an easy kick, some 12 metres in from touch but Gopperth kicked it. 13-13 with four minutes to play.
Terblanche kicked high and Tialata was off-side at the knock-on. That set up a penalty attempt by young Kockott and it hit the upright, after which excitement, controversy and anger exploded.
Man of the Match: Rodney So'oialo. He did everything - won line-outs, cleaned up buckling scrums, ran, tackled, nearly scored - and still looked calm at the angry end.
Moment of the Match: Those final seconds at the corner. They will be memorable for a long, long time.
Villain of the Match: Epi Taione, the Tongan who cut his hair off and made his butt more obvious.
The scorers:
For the Hurricanes:
Try: Hore
Con: Gopperth
Pens: Gopperth 2
For the Sharks:
Try: Penalty try
Con: Kockott
Pens: Pienaar, Steyn
Teams:
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Keegan Daniel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 AJ Venter, 20 Epi Taione, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Adrian Jacobs,
Hurricanes: 15 Cory
Jane, 14 Ma'a Nonu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Shannon Paku, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So'oialo (captain), 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Jeremy Thrush, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Willie Ripia, 22 Hosea Gear.
Referee: Paul Marks (Australia)
Touch judges: Kelvin Deaker (Australia), James Scholtens (New Zealand)
Television match official: Brent Murray (New Zealand)
Assessor: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)
