SHARKS 34 LIONS 20
Match report courtesy of CapeShark.
Two great line-breaks from Ryan Kankowski, which lead to tries for JP Pietersen and Deon Carstens, ultimately proved the difference in a scrappy encounter at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday night. Kankowski was at his scintillating best showing the value of having a big loose forward with exceptional pace. The Lions for their part showed a lot of hunger and were full value for their money but were let down repeatedly by the temperamental nature of their flyhalf Earl Rose. Rose, to put it bluntly, had a mare, missing all but two of his kicks. He was also directly responsible for two of the Sharks tries; first a charge-down score for Jean Deysel, while an aimless kick into the hands of JP Pietersen led to a try down the others side of the field.
While Earl Rose was single-handedly destroying his team’s chances, the Sharks backs were also contriving to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with sloppy play that at times bordered on comical. Frans Steyn in particular had a game he’d rather forget. The ‘one-step wonder’ looked alarmingly short of ideas on attack on appeared just as clueless on defence repeatedly falling off his opponents. Steyn has shown himself to be a selfish player of late, not a bad thing if you play for a team like the Griffons but when you have the likes of Adi Jacobs and JP Pietersen out wide starved of ball, it’s unforgivable.
The game got off to a cracking start as the Lions showed an early willingness to run the ball and had the Sharks scrambling in defence. Things evened out soon thereafter when it became evident that both teams had brought their kicking boots but left their hands at home. A ping-pong kicking fest was soon to become the feature of the match as both teams tested out the opposition’s back three (much to the annoyance of the spectators). The Lions were first on the board when a slick backline move off first phase saw Louis Ludick neatly loop round and offload to Trompie Nontshinga who brushed off an alarmingly effeminate attempt at a tackle by Stefan Terblanche to score in the corner. Earl Rose fluffed the kick, the first of what would be many to come. The Sharks then charged back into action but were repeatedly undone by bad hands and terrible decision making. Freddie Michalak was largely ineffective against the resilient Lions’ defence and passing it on to Frans Steyn certainly didn’t help matters. With all the possession they had, the Sharks should have been three tries up; instead they ended the half with only a solitary penalty to show for their efforts.
The second half saw the Sharks dominate possession once again, except this time there was a visible purpose and structure in their play. Eventually the passes did go wide, and Kankowski showed his game-breaking ability to put JP Pietersen in the clear. The game came alive in the second half as the Lions hit back with a simple try off a lineout. Jean Deysel was caught napping and allowed Heinke van der Merwe to collect the ball from the lineout and scythe through to score. Some of the more astute players will no doubt recollect that this is precisely how Juan Smith scored his try for the Cheetahs against the Sharks two weeks ago. Something to work on in practise, surely?
But the Lions’ joy was short-lived as Jean Deysel charged down a sloppy attempted clearance by Earl Rose and cantered in to score. This was followed shortly by another killer Kanko linebreak which saw Deon Carstens over the chalk for try number three.
Try number four resulted from some desperate play from the Lions as Earl Rose punted an aimless kick straight down the throat of a charging JP Pietersen. The winger known for his counterattacking runs deftly hacked the ball over the defence and sped downfield to collect it over the tryline. The Lions, who by now had nothing to play for but pride toiled manfully at the Sharks’ line but some great defence from that man Pietersen saw the ball being held up over the line.
Eventually it was left to Pienaar to seal a comfort penalty as the clock ran out.
All in all, a satisfactory effort from the Sharks, who looked particularly solid in the second half. The Bulls, however, will no doubt be rubbing their hands in glee as the Sharks showed a worrisome trend to try play as 15 individuals instead of as a collective team. What is also apparent is that certain individuals are allowed way too much time to try and prove themselves on the field while the ‘impact’ players are entering the fray way too late to make any meaningful impact.
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eish rob mate ya gotto get over ur hate for steyn
in the first half 3 passes to adi that got turned over as adi got turned easy
steyn was prolly our best defender out there
odwa had more of a mare
to me the first half wasnt great as our forwards were to loose
2nd half with bit more structure things came right
i also felt carstens and sykes and daniel made a diffs when they came on
and just to rub this in smit comes on and first scrum he wins a TH
and poor barritt on for a min and bad cut above his eye
must say the youngster is having a bad run with injuries
one thing i did notice and that was that jannie stood up to heinke
so much for being invincible as some lions supporters think
@sharks_lover (Comment 1) :
It wasn’t Rob who wrote the piece. 😉
I do agree to a certain extent though with Cape Shark. I think Steyn could have done MUCH better than he actually did. He didn’t cock anything up but I still think he should have done more than he did and from that point of view will want to forget this game.
Steyn was kak… he loses the ball in contact far more often than Jacobs does. He needs to learn that he doesn’t actually have to try and win every game on his own.
Brad had to have 30 stitches in that cut
rob agreed but lets rather give the lions credit for in our faces game that they played in the first half
adi turned over 3 balls passed to him as he went in to tackled to straight and got turned
btw cilliers seems to have injured the same knee that kept him out
With Brad going and Frans proving to be a one man wonder, I’d look to playing Riaan Swanepoel at 12 next season and Frans at FB. If he doesn’t like that, bad luck. The ball too often dies with him and 12 is supposed to be another distributor of the ball.
While credit for him trying, he is living the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and wondering why he gets the same result…
@Baldrick (Comment 8) : might not be a bad move
id play adi 12 and murray 13 with swanepoel on the bench
problem is i think steyn is gonna be fly half
unless pienaar doesnt mind and plays there for us
if run agrees this could be quite a good backline
15 steyn
14 odwa
13 murray
12 adi
11 jpp
10 ruan
09 cockott
reserve backs
stefan
swanepoel
len olivier
run= ruan
Going to enjoy seeing Kanko on the EOYT’s… hopefully Watson is now knocked out of the 22…
Well done Sharks!
I am not surprised though…..
Just don’t stuff it up against the bulls in the final again, pleeeeeaaaase!
@sharks_lover (Comment 1) : have to agree with you and rob. steyn has no imagination and plays old style centre rugby of run as hard into the opposition as possible and maybe they won’t tackle you. it is a sad day when i have to say wynand is a better centre. even his defence isn’t the greatest. as for adi, he isn’t a starter. he is poor when tackled and only sparks magic in the last 20 minutes. adi is a super sub and that is that.
@Baldrick (Comment 8) : agree baldrick. if he doesn’t like it he must find a turnip in the country.
@sharks_lover (Comment 9) : you contradict yourself, first you say adi is too small and gets turned over easily then you say he must play 12 where he will get tackled more and lose more ball. make up your mind.
Adi dint have a good game, and neither did Frans.
That said, Brad hasn’t impressed in ages either.
The single difference is that Frans’ errors so often come because he simply won’t pass the ball – unforgivable for a 12.
@Big Fish (Norman Jordaan is a LEGEND) (Comment 17) :
It’s for that reason I simply can’t see him at neither 10/12…
Saying that… last week’s game he had a great step inside through defenders and offload to set up a try… but it was only the valke…
The Lions are going to have to seriously start buying some decent players and make a bloody plan or move to the 2nd division..every season its the same old story so close yet sofar..played with guts with now real stars blah blah blah..enough already..and Rose has now got the knack of screwing things up for the team in big matches.Last year he cost us the CC with a similiar performance to yesterdays.
Once again well done Sharks I hope you go all the way.
Why on earth we didn’t go for the lineout instead of poles still blows me away 😈
Also Loffie needs to catch a wake-up and start using his bench earlier and get the tactics right in the final quaterr of a match.
@Big Fish (Norman Jordaan is a LEGEND) (Comment 17) : thats because brad has been recovering from injury and has played very little. but he doesn’t feature anymore, it is now the battle of who for the s14. it is a battle between riaan and frans.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 20) : lions have decent players, they just need to sort out the quality on their bench. also look at the training they are doing as they have far too many injuries. bad luck doesn’t last two years, so the fitness coaches could be at fault cos the lions are losing far too many players to injury. player conditioning is vital to dropping the chances of injuries.
@bryce_in_oz (Comment 18) : yeah frans has unbelievable talent, but he has not the patience or temperament to be in key positions. personally i would like to see frans head overseas for a season or two, to get away from adoring fans and learn the basics of ball placement and patience. just like percy did. i hate wishing for players to go overseas, but in frans case it could be a turning point.
Kanko’s good, but is he better than Koster? 😉
Jokes aside, I reckon Kanko has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that he is the best number eight in the land. He alomost always breaks the first tackle. Has ball skills & a super hairdo.
What more can you ask for?
@McLovin (Comment 25) : Right now he is. No doubt about it
@robdylan (Comment 27) : Head and shoulders above the rest. Even Steroids Spies.
@McLovin (Comment 26) : True dat on dah fro!
@McLovin (Comment 28) : Head and Shoulders!! ROFL!!
@McLovin (Comment 28) : Head & Shoulders… I see a TV ad starring Kanko… 🙂
@CapeShark (Comment 31) : Is your avatar supposed to be a Lion?
Kankowski was all class. For the Lions I thought Jac Fourie , Baywatch, Trompie & Heinke was class. Hope Heinke & Baywatch make the Bokke team at the end of the year.
Earl Rose was kak.
@klempie (Comment 32) : A dead Lion 🙁
I didn’t think Jacques Fourie was great yesterday – a few missed tackles, including being handed-off by Kanko in the run up to JPP’s first try, and he also ran laterally at times.
That said, I think the centres and loosies in this game had a battle royale, and many of the errors were purely due to the incredible preessure being exerted by their opposite numbers.
With regard to Frans for example, he was not very good, but he produced a few great tackles, a break or 2, and his pass to Kanko in the abovementioned try was a beaut.
Kanko of course is an incredible talent, while JPP is looking back to his best again.
@McLovin (Comment 26) :
Who was it waaaaay back. Wynand Claasen? Rumour was he should have been a bok many more times than he was. IF ONLY he hadn’t been playing for Natal.
@McLovin (Comment 28) :
Studio Line On Friday, Head and Shoulders today.
Are you guys trying to turn the Sharks into WP? 😛
@KSA Shark © (Comment 37) :
How come a kaalkop knows so much about shampoo?
What’s your favourite brand of hairdryer? 😈
@McLovin (Comment 26) :
“What more can you ask for?”
A start @8 for the Boks… and Watson dropping out of the squad…
@Big Fish (Norman Jordaan is a LEGEND) (Comment 38) :
I use a chamois leather cloth to dry my hair 😳 😛
@Big Fish (Norman Jordaan is a LEGEND) (Comment 35) : Agree…Adi was not so good on the day either…Dissapointed that Jacobs and Fourie did not challenge eachother in the game, had actually hoped for an epic midfield battle…IMO, Jacobs could have been more lethal on attack with getting more ball from Steyn… 😉
one thing i did notice is how the backline improved when ruan moved to flyhalf. more and more he is proving his worth at flyhalf. imagine how good he will be when he feels comfortable at ten and starts enjoying it. i am pleased he hasn’t totally dismissed the idea of playing ten. the three r’s make an awesome combo. ryan rory ruan what a combo.
@try time (Comment 42) : just add riaan at 12 and you’ll have the 4r show, and it will be a show i’ll pay more than 4r to watch.
my dream s14 team would be:
1-beast
2-bis
3-john
4-johan
5-hargreaves
6-botes
7-jean
8-ryan
9-rory
10-ruan
11-jp
12-riaan
13-waylon
14-odwa
15-frans
16-burden (can come on as a back or hooker)
17-deon
18-jannie
19/20-albert/sykes/keegan (depends on the opposition)
21-adi (covers flyhalf or takes outside centre waylon moves to wing and odwa can move to full back)
22-stefan/jordaan
Not a classic game from most of our players…except good performances by Deysel, Kanko and Beast.
Was that really Odwa in there or did the Bulls manage to switch the twins on Thursday/ Friday?
Well, the picture of the scoreboard that Walter promised to take will be easier to look at…way better than it would’ve been of the score was the other way around.
It was a relief to also get over that whole ” We haven’t won at Ellis Park since 96 ” thing…hopefully we can move on and do other things we haven’t been able to do since then 😉 .
5 points in the bag…now Province can do their own dirty work. Go Lions!
@just blackshark (Comment 45) : odwa took a bad knock and he battled the rest of the game. it was like percy in the s14 final game where habana tackled him illegally and afterwards percy wasn’t on form.
@bryce_in_oz (Comment 39) : One can only hope.
hi guys… congrats to the sharks. Win is a win! now for the final. i just have one problem with the sharks` winning streak… against the bulls, morne had a bad day with the boot, against the cheetahs, the didnt have their best kicker and against the lions, earls boot cost them the game. all i`m trying to say is that, in 2 of those 3 games, kicking cost them them game. what if they start getting it right in the semi`s or final?? i dont want to sound negative, cause im REALLY enjoying the sharks style and winning habit at the moment.
another thing, did anyone read the article where the mention that Adriaan Theissenger from Grey College (8th Man) got a senior contract from the sharks for next year? may be old news…
Where is Walter ❓ 🙄
@VanWilder (Comment 48) : read that – and trying to find out more info about the guy. So far, I have nothing
@Pokkel (Comment 49) :
Wil jy stir…? 😉
@I’ce (Rebel With a Cause) (Comment 51) : morning 🙂
@Pokkel (Comment 49) : is that like where is wallie? tried to spot him at ellis park but too many sharks supporters, and with the seats being red he was camouflaged.
@robdylan (Comment 52) :
G’ Morning, ROB! 😀
@robdylan (Comment 50) : under “Andries Adriaan Theisinger” on the SArugby site the say that he played Grant Khomo u/16 for Free State and Craven Week in 2007 & 2008 for Free state… looks a good prospect…
@I’ce (Rebel With a Cause) (Comment 51) : Nee ek wag net vir sy foto van die scoreboard. 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 56) : Dan kan ons begin stir
@Pokkel (Comment 56) :
Hy het seker laat ontwikkel…digital sal te gou wees! 😉
@VanWilder (Comment 55) : i like the wait and see approach. too many “good things” have turned out to be vodacom cup regulars. i’ll wait till plumtree is happy to put the guy in a sharks jersey before i show interest.
@I’ce (Rebel With a Cause) (Comment 58) : Ja ek hoop die foto is Swart en Wit 😆
@Pokkel (Comment 60) :
Dit bly tog maar die niceste… 😎
@try time (Comment 59) : agree with you… he`s quite big, so hopefully he can be back-up loosie, and Jean (Deysel) can work with him… I`ve seen him play @ cravenweek and a few Grey games. he`s good, but more like a Pedrie Wannenburg type of player.
@robdylan (Comment 50) : oh, and i see the Cheetahs signed Corne Uys (WP Centre), Odendaal (Scrummie -Valke) and i think the Viljoen Loosie from Griquas. they are also trying to sign Danwel Demas from Boland. I wonder with what players they are going to play with when the Sevens Wold cup squad is gone??Juries, Floors, Ebersohn, Blohm, Demas etc
@sharks_lover (Comment 7) : Pat’s knee is fine… he hurt his back, but it was nothing serious
@KSA Shark © (Comment 36) :
Ive heard that said of Tommy Bedford.
Article on rugby 365 claim that Butch signed a new 3 year contract with bath which will see him finish his career with them…
ok – so he’s 1.96 and 100kg… and only 18.
Anyone watch the u21 game? How did Mike Rhodes play?
@VanWilder (Comment 66) : ah well…
ok – friend request sent to one Adriaan Theisinger
@robdylan (Comment 64) : thanks rob good morning and yeah great news
didnt look good when he came off
by the way the under 19’s looked great again and should have won by a far bigger margin
@robdylan (Comment 67) : the whole under 21’s didnt play great infact the should have walked the game but stupid mistakes all the time
rhodes was ok but not brilliant
in saying that we led the under 21 game for about 65 min
@sharks_lover (Comment 72) : that u21 side is clearly not a happy bunch. VERY stoked about the way the under 19’s are going.
Sounds like those Cronje twins are quite something.
@robdylan (Comment 73) : they sure are and the depth is comming through nicely
damn the under 19’s scrummy is gonna be some player. and has a boot like steyn
put over a penalty from his 10 meter line and 5 meters in from touch