The Sharks beat the Pumas by 44 points to 35 in Witbank this evening.
Obviously details are sketchy, but it sounds like the Sharks had teh game pretty much under control all the way through, with only Pumas points machine Braam Pretorius keeping the hosts in touch with his booming boot. The Sharks scored 5 tries to 2, with Jacques Botes (2), Charl McLeod, Jean Deysel and Chris Jordaan getting on the scoresheet. Rory Kockott had a good day with the boot, kicking 6 from 6, while replacement fullback Pat Lambie also succeeded with two shots.
More details as we find them!
Pumas 35 – 44 Sharks
Pumas
Tries C le Roux, B Pretorius
Conversions B Pretorius x 2
Penalties B Pretorius x 6
Drop Goals V van Wyk
Sharks
Tries J Botes x 2, J Deysel, C Jordaan, C McLeod
Conversions R Kockott x 4, P Lambie
Penalties R Kockott x 2, P Lambie
all that penalties doesnt sound that good though, but well done to them
Seems the Pumas tried to stay in the game with the boot. They scored 25 of their 35 points with the boot (71%).
@JarsonX (Comment 1) :
6 penalties isn’t that high a number IMO
here’s what Mike Marnewick had to say:
The Sharks ran out 44-35 victors over the Pumas in Witbank on Friday evening in a Compulsory Friendly match ahead of next week’s opening Absa Currie Cup fixtures.
Played against a competitive side, the match gave the coaching staff the opportunity to see how some of the youngsters in the squad could play at a level higher than age group, and all 22 players named to take on the Pumas were rewarded with game time.
The match did get a bit scrappy at times thanks to this being the early stages of the second half of the season as well as the fact that the Pumas were out to match The Sharks in a fixture they are rarely rewarded with.
The half time score of 24-17 and the nine points separating the two teams at the conclusion of the match showed that the Pumas made a go of things, helped in no small measure by the outstanding kicking of wing Braam Pretorius who slotted kicks from all over the park. His personal contribution of 27 points included a try, six penalties and two conversions. They managed to stay in contact with The Sharks, nearly every score by the visitors was matched by the home team.
Although they will not be playing in the Premier Division of the Absa Currie Cup this coming season, they certainly showed that they will be strong contenders in their division.
The match was pretty much a stop-start affair, never really taking off and the coaches will not read too much into the result, aside from the fact that the youngsters came out of the game with much credibility. There were some good showings from the likes of Jan Andre Marais, Rocco Jansen, Guy Cronje and the front row of Wiehahn Herbst, Craig Burden and Patric Cilliers.
Well, initially thought the defense was leaky, so not too bad, a step in the right direction, bring on province!
@robdylan (Comment 4) : looks like the youngsters fronted up, nice
good evening guys
i just came from the game
holy shit it was cold
wasnt a bad game , and the puma’s sure did come to play
rob you will be happy to know , justin downey came on as sub and really looked good
also lambie looked solid at the back
new player rocco jansen tried but has some bad habbits
@sharks_lover (Comment 9) : what sort of bad habits?
hiyas rob , sorry went and watched a movie
he likes to goose step , still very unsure
back 3 was noty good at first
bad interplay , but then again new combinations one shouldnt expect more
like i said lambie came on 2nd half and look quite good , big boot on him and good goal kicker too
kicks long distances
will try catch you online 2morrow rob , will explain more then
there was some bad play from young ones but also some very good positives
@sharks_lover glad you went to the game how did young Cronje do? Vulindlu better as a center or is wing still his position
Good to see the sharks have got depth, the two youngsters who impressed, were Lambie at the back and Chadwick in the front..
Always rated Lambie Chadwick looked good with u/20 How did Cronje do
@Fattmann (Comment 13) : both vulindlu and mvovo were dissapointing
out of position a lot
chadwick was ok but he didnt play long,
guy cronje idd a lot of good things but still a lot of bad option taking,
our scrums got murdered at first but did settle down to dominate
i think one must put it down to being a new team , with many new combinations
Thanks for the info I really rate Guy Cronje and maybe a season in the cc is just what he needs to really step up to the mark
one things about this kind of games is everybosy is playing for their position instead of playing for the team
senior players too put their hands up
deysel probably MOM
botes very good
daniel very good
burden good
mcleod and rory were very good
rory struggled to miss the center of the posts when kicking lol
the kickoffs that we were very poor
, either dropping the ball or just passing it wildly , this gave away points ,
@Fattmann (Comment 15) : chadwick was robbed of a place in the Baby Boks. They picked some useless Bull called Morne Mullet or something instead
@sharks_lover (Comment 18) : and big Justin?
how did he do?
robo justin had 20 min and seriously looked strong
but like i said so did the senior loose forwards , but i told him afterwards just be patient , and he agrees he is going to be a big player
hes damn strong and fast
i also predict big things for lambie and guy cronje
they do need to bulk up a little though i think
@robdylan (Comment 19)but in the end Chadwick has come thru and the beefy boys tend to mature later. Has some great role models though
@sharks_lover how did Jan Andre Marais do
im a little dissapointed in how bad albert played and i am an albert fan
but way to many basic errors from such an experienced player
@Fattmann (Comment 23) : against some of the big puma players chadwick and marais got a little klap yet still did well
we had 3 TH’s against us ,
take into account we didnt have a big tight five to start with
one could see the new combinations , that lack of experience was clear to see but thats to be expected
@sharks_lover (Comment 21) : and I have never met anyone with a more positive attitude!
we laughed so much last night seeing a few times 4 to 5 guys hanging on deysels back as he carried them forward
@sharks_lover (Comment 24) : big al is already in semi-retirement mode. Not an 80-minute player anymore. We’ll struggle most at lock this Currie Cup
@sharks_lover(comment 24) Bert from the mountains must have felt the cold last night not easy when your his age to do the things that the young guys do:lol:
he will be invaluable to the young guns this year I believe that this is his last one
@robdylan (Comment 27) : justin can maybe beef up a slight bit more rob but i agree he young and a star for the future
very clear to see
@Fattmann (Comment 30) :
andries strauss was huge in defence last night
this because guy crinje isnt a big defender and vulindlu didnt keep his defence lines well
i was dissapointed with vulindlu last night
here is a fact
vulindlu , mvovo and jordaan have a long way to go before being considered more then a vodacom cup player
@sharks_lover (Comment 28) : he’ll go to the Boks soon. I think Smith is finished
@sharks_lover(comment33)A lot of the defense thing can be fixed by better communication and an understanding of the individual players. THought Cronje did well on defence against the lions though
@robdylan andy news on Waylon Murray and his knee?
OK all i gotta go Mrs thinn wants me to do a whole bunch of stuff
Boks by 30
@Fattmann (Comment 36) : run fatboy run
“……..as well as the fact that the Pumas were out to match The Sharks in a fixture they are rarely rewarded with.”
Guess which is the only team the Sharks have taken on more than once this season?
This is not a bad result for these Sharks. The Pumas recently beat the Leopards, who I think, will themselves cause a few upsets in the Currie Cup.
I dont see the same happening against WP at Newlands next weekend though.
@Fattmann (Comment 35) : it still swells up everytime he runs
’08 CC final on SS1 at the moment.
Steyn misses that penalty a la S14 final ‘07.
Bulls turn the scrum on the siren.
We steal the ball and wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!!!
Ah I can relive that anytime.
@klempie (Comment 44) : nutter
@Rahul (Comment 45) :
@klempie (Comment 44) : you’re fooling nobody!