A pair of late tries allowed the Stormers to burgle a 17-16 win against the Sharks in the final Neo Africa Tri-Series game, at Newlands this afternoon. For the Sharks, the result will be a bitter pill to swallow, but they’ll take great encouragement from a display that was a million times better than what they dished up against the Lions earlier in the week.
The only try the Sharks managed came from Meyer Bosman about 20 minutes in, and the boots of Pat Lambie and later Jacques-Louis Potgieter eventually pulled them out to a commanding 16-3 lead with 15 minutes to go. Tries at the death to Elgar Watts and Rynardt Elsteadt took the game away from a side that were pretty close to dead on their feet after putting their bodies on the line all afternoon.
John Plumtree asked te Sharks to address their commitment on defence and from that perspective, the coach can have nothing to complain about. The loss of Jannie du Plessis to flu before the game, and then Craig Burden to an ankle injury a scant ten minutes in did leave the Sharks a little light of beef up front and I feel that it was that factor that ultimately proved telling, as the Stormers managed to increase the intensity of their forward onslaught in the final ten minutes, when Sharks men such as Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis and Anton Bresler were barely managing to hold on after giving their all for more than an hour.
Replacement forward Daniel Adonga was yellow carded for the Sharks with 5 minutes left on the clock, after a professional foul and the young man’s departure was probably the final nail in the coffin for the Sharks. That said, the Sharks can be very happy with this performance, particularly the likes of Bresler and Jacques Engelbrecht, who’s contributions were massive on the day.
Adi Jacobs looked a little out of sorts and will need to get a fair bit more rugby under his belt. The good news for the Sharks, though, is that Meyer Bosman was utterly superb on both attack and defence and must have been close to the best Sharks player on display, particularly in the first half.
Scores:
Stormers – 17. Tries to Elgar Watts and Rynardt Elsteadt . Penalty to Gary van Aswegen. Two conversions to Lionel Cronje.
Sharks – 16. Try to Meyer Bosman. Conversion and teo penalties to Pat Lambie. Penalty to Jacques-Louis Potgieter.
Oh well we can’t win everything
i’m still a Sharks no matter what 
will try much harder to win from next week
Agree with you Rob. Also think we have to go and work hard on our line-outs. Also hoffman looked a little out of sorts since coming on!
Agree, Adi needs more game time. Our 2nd stringers also need to lift their game, we got slaughter at the end of Tuesday’s game and again we lost it at the end when our subs are supposed to get us safely through.
Both teams were rusty and have much to work on but I’ve seen enough to think that we will be OK this season.
Black and White – all that matters. Although I am gutted by the loss, our boys put everthing on the line.
What did Adonga actually do?
Odwa had a brilliant game at fb imo
@war1 (Comment 4) : agree with you its still earlly in the year
The Sharks showed me enough that they are going to be one one of the top contenders.
Although the stormers won,they need a better 10 to get that backline going.
@Just a Fan (Comment 5) : Hands in ruck in the “red” zone
Dan was pinged for playing the ball off his feet
@Ben (Comment 9) : Oh..I thought that the ref was jealous over the muscle display
Everyone who wondered how big dan is should have a clear indication now!
@Ben (Comment 6) : One of the stars, you are right, he was brilliant.
@war1 (Comment 13) : The old head never let’s us down!
@Ben (Comment 14) : JP and Lwazi also did very well. Sharks need to convert chances into tries but that will come.
well win or loose it was just great to see BEAST on the field with the Sharks and not in the snoils red and white
@war1 (Comment 15) : Yeah surely that will come we could easily have scored 3 more tries! Loved it when lwazi ran over the defender!
@chaz (Comment 16) : I thaught we got over that already?
@Ben (Comment 17) : I think if Jaco van der Westhuisen watches the game he’s gonna have nightmares of facing Lwazi again.
@chaz (Comment 16) : Beast bled for the Sharks today, literally!
In the time that lapsed between Charl distributing a ball from the base of the ruck and Ricky attempting to do the same thing, I’m pretty sure I could have baked a cake.
All the talk about Ricky and a proper offseason counted for nil seeing’s how slow he was around the fringes. Charl by contrast was quite flash.
@beet (Comment 21) : I’m sure if the stormers had the prop problem he would be able to fit in for them there! Ricky that is
@beet (Comment 21) : I wonder when Ricky’s due date is..that guy has got fatter…
@Just a Fan (Comment 23) : Think he could be due anytime! Twins maybe?
@Danman110 (Comment 19) : Poor Lionel Cronje was 1 of Lwazi’s victims near the end. Psychologically Lionel’s probably just got his head right after that mare of a C/Cup final and then first main act of this game, he’s called on to be the last line of D against Mvovo and gets steamrolled. I don’t think it helped his confidence.
@beet (Comment 25) : Yes i think poor Lionel is going to be hurting tomorrow, Lwazi’s is quite smaller than JPP but i think players hate defending against him because he so good on his feet and doesn’t go down without dragging the defender a few meters or flattening him.
sharks have bought well .
Bresler and ndungane where great, back 3 looked good.
Enough said.
I hope duane vermulen ,ricky jan and gio ap get smacked some time ,dislike button
@war1 (Comment 20) :
@Talent (Comment 27) :
And Steff has put on some muscle ,the guys look to be in great shape ,fat boys vs the fit boys lol cheers all time for a good braai
@Talent (Comment 27) : Do you think Duane Vermeulen has ever made it thru a whole 80min without being involved in a single off the ball niggle
hmmm whether you lose by a second or a mile . . Losing is Losing.
@Ben (Comment 18) :
yes we did but was just so glad to see him and like war1 said he gave his blood for the sharks today
@Original Champion (Comment 32) : yep you are right but that still makes us Sharks supporters no matter what
We live and breed
BLACK AND WHITE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
Re: Adi Jacobs, Everybody have the right of their own opinion, I do respect it most hearted, but also remember to give credit in the near future when it’s due
Aah! The innocent Sharks NEVER resort to off the ball stuff. They’re a bunch of angels!!
He just needs game time Charlie! We all know what he is capable of!
Thanx wpw, at least a honest opinion and that from a faithful Stormers supporter.
@wpw (Comment 36)
uane Vermulen needs to remeber that his tough guy antics and poofy wp mullet hairstyle wont ever warrant a springbok call up .
. He just doesnt carry the same momentum in the tackle that guys like deysel and alberts do to be an effective enough ball carrier compared to his fellow countrymen, neither does he have the skill or speed that guys like spies and kankowski do.
It amazes me how wp fans think that if you look like a tough guy you play like one ,truth be told ,duane vermulen comes of second best (often) to slighter men, just like the beast did against rick jan today
Aplon also forgets that he is a super gnat weight ,does he think the rugby pitch is gladiator? Thats why some times when i see incidence`s like the one where he gets pummelled/head charged by bakkies i cant help but smile at what would otherwise have been a display of atrocious sportsmanship…
Sharks won where it matters: structure of play, discipline, defence and distribution was 1000% better than Tuesday.
Having watched all 3 games at Newlands, I can honestly say that I am very optimistic for this season.
Just disappointed things didn’t work out for Big Dan – looked good in his few minutes.
@Charlie (Comment 35) : of course mate… class is permanent and we all know Adi has tons of it. Fact is, though, he’ll be disappointed with his game today.
@wpw (Comment 36) : mate it’s either the sharks fans on here are quite a facetious bunch or have selective amnesia – i think it’s both – if they have forgotten that they have the oft vuilgat Duplessis brothers in their team who raked up countless penalties and not to mention yellow cards just last year!
Talk about brainless tough guy wanna-bes
@Megatron (Comment 42) : you missed the point. The Dups ARE the tough guys. vermeulen is the wannabe. He mostly comes of 2nd best.
@Megatron (Comment 42) : You mean the “wanna-bes” that ARE Springboks…
After the game against the Lions I was concerned about discipline, tries conceded and lack of tries scored. By all accounts, our discipline was much improved. 2 Tries conceded in the dying minutes of a warm-up game where substitutions are the name of the game is certainly not something I would lose sleep over, and by the sounds of it (not having watched the game), it seems like we created scoring opportunities aplenty, with just our finishing letting us down – something that will definitely improve with game time. Bring on 2011!
@Megatron (Comment 42) :
I’m laughing AT you 
Talent. The fact that you condone Bakkies’ headbutt on Aplon says a lot about your character.
As for Duane Vermuelen, the fact that I support WP doesn’t cloud my judgement where Duane is concerned. Yes he is a decent player but he aint THAT good. I rate Ashley Johnson more highly!!
I must admit I feel alot better about the team performance then after the Lions game.
By the way… how is Burden doing. There was some very colourful words spoken when I saw him with that ice pack. I mean for pete sakes, the S15 has not even started.
Lotsa ways of looking at this. Yes it`s only warm ups, results don`t matter etc. Also the result was a lot better than expected.
A sobering thought: We finished Last in the tri-series.
On pre-season form we`re now rated last of the SA conferences.
Singing Meyer`s praises because he scored a try is a bit premature. He also threw a pass that Habana intercepted with ease.
Yes Adi is still out of sorts and Bosman is a bit bigger, that just means we have to look elsewhere.
Odwa`s positional play was very good but his return kicks. . . not on super rugby level, which leaves us with a problem at the back. We cannot afford to move Stefan out of mid field there simply is nobody else.
Best possible backline : Ludick, JP, Stefan, Lambie, Mvovo, JLP, Charl. Bench: Hoffmann, Adi, Odwa
@Just a Fan (Comment 44) : ooooohh, were we comparing playing prowess or were we talking about players always involved in niggle on the field? Fyi, even at the Boks Bissie’s always got a half-cocked fist on top of an opponent.
cast your mind back to the tri-series matches of 2010 and first 5 games of last year’s super14 and stop being a hypocrite
@Just a Fan (Comment 44) : in any case the last time i checked aplon and january WERE Springboks too
@Megatron (Comment 50) : True that Mega.
Ricky Mac D was quite aggressive last night as well. Stormed in from the side to give Stefan a shot across the back of his head when Stefan was involved in a tussle with someone on the ground. Shoved his hand in Mvovo`s face, all sorts off little niggles around the ruck then Duane and the big guys had to rush in and save him when Beast et al took exception
@Original Champion (Comment 52) : the point is, when the Sharks arguably have 2 of the most vuilgat players in SA in the Dup brothers it’s kinda ironic hearing their fans go on & judging players from other sides
if they irony of it all still eludes you then, you’re a black & white supporter 100%
if ‘the’ irony.
Encouraging performance from the Sharks.
Very happy with a much improved backline, looking like we will be able to score tries this season. Lwazi is going to have a killer season!
Odwa looked really good at the back.. Glad to see we have that sort of depth at fullback, was always worried that we had little to go on at fullback.
@Megatron (Comment 54) : LOL I didn`t even attempt a defence for Bissie . . .
@Farlington (Comment 48) : Craig is fine… just rolled his ankle. Nothing serious at all. I checked
@Original Champion (Comment 49) : you didn’t watch the game, did you? Bosman was superb and is clearly our best option at 12.
Stef and Bosman is currently our only option at 12 and 13 imo, Adi and Swannie lack gametime and I can’t see them getting a starting berth on current form.JPL can also slot into12 or 13 and that will also give us 1 more kicking option.
@Danman110 (Comment 60) : I thought Swannie looked ok…
Cant the kenya dan odonga I think play a backline position,he is still young I think and we all know ST and AJ don’t have long left.
Mostert Had a good game for me and I hope he can stay fit,did anybody see when he almost broke his own ankle.
@robdylan (Comment 61) : Yes did not let us down but he was not in the same nick as Bosman but it’s hard to judge with just 15 min of play,form what I gather Adi was one of the better players against the Lions but in super rugby we can’t afford to have players inform on one game and totally out of it in the next.
@Megatron (Comment 42) : talking about the du plesis brothers as brainless toughguy wannabe’s makes sense when jannie is a doctor! Sure he’s very brainless.
@Original Champion (Comment 49) : can you please point out to me who was singing bosman’s praises just because he scored a try? We are singing his praises because he had a hell of a good game! He’s our best option at 12
@Honey Badger (Comment 62) : I would love to see him groomed at 13 seeing as he has the size and speed,but I think he should play some CC first,but I believe he’ll make a great 13 given the chance.
@Ben (Comment 64) : on the rugby field genius…but you knew that didn’t you…
like i said, go and revisit the sharks’ 2010 tri-series + first 5 matches of super14 & then come back
@Megatron (Comment 67) : So if one concedes a lot of penalties it makes one a brainless toughguy wanna-be? So what does that make schalk burger???
The only brainless toughguy wanna-be I can think of is derick kuun but then again he’s just an idiot!
@Original Champion (Comment 49) : scarcely 9am on a Sunday and you’ve already been drinking??
Our best backline.
Ludik
JPP
Stefan
Bosman
Mvovo
Lambie
McLeod
22. Ndungane
21. Swannie / Jacobs(who could move to starting xv once he’s had game time)
20. JLP
if we only use 2 backs then JLP and Ndungane.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 70) : and let’s hope our scrummie never gets injured.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 71) : If we go for 3 backs on the bench I’d have hoffman jlp and odwa. Hoffman covers scrummie. Jlp can cover fh and centres and odwa can cover the wings and fb
Hoffman didn’t impress me hugely yesterday. I’m sure he’ll improve
@robdylan (Comment 73) : But what other choice do we have at scrummie? Didn’t impress me either hope he imoproves. Don’t know if you noticed or maybe it was just me, he doesn’t look comfortable passing to his right.
@Danman110 (Comment 66) : I would like that,if he can back it up,we would have an unstoppable backline in a year.
@robdylan (Comment 73) : He looked very scared,he must not bring that to our team-it’s infectious
@Ben (Comment 69) : i agree with you on derrick kuun, what a chop…
duanne didn’t concede any penalties he was just involved in some little handbags and now ur fellow precious sharks buddies want to brand him a thug
@Megatron (Comment 76) : so now you stoop down to the same level and call our players thugs?
@Ben (Comment 77) : ben, ben, ben…where did i call ur players thugs?
Unless you deny that jannie dup got yellow carded at least 2 times last year for tripping and off-the-ball stuff then leave it mate…
@Megatron (Comment 78) : “when the Sharks arguably have 2 of the most vuilgat players in SA in the Dup brothers” you said that so its basicly the same! Wake up and smell the roses please!
@Megatron (Comment 78) : So let’s just leave it there!
@Ben (Comment 80) : fine, you can’t see the hypocrisy of sharks supporters going in about ricky, aplon & duanne when they have the dups in the midst
defending the indefensible mate… 
@Megatron (Comment 81) : no worries mate. I didn’t call any of your players names and I was just saying you are stooping down to the same level. But that’s water under the bridge.
Ben
Megatron does not support WP!!
@Megatron (Comment 81) :
You still going on? Invigorating debtate this.
@wpw (Comment 83) : Megatron supports the alternate opinion. He isn’t real we created him to stimulate debate.
@wpw (Comment 83) : Haha so who does he support?
Nah KSA Shark
He supports the underdog, the the Mighty Elephants and PDV!!
@wpw (Comment 87) : And the Crusaders.
@wpw (Comment 87) : that is EP Kings to you, chief!
DAMN!!! That was my first sigtin of the monster…. Adonga ? …. what a big boy that is!!!! Whats his specs?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 70) : Oh well, I did what I could with what I had to work with.