Fans who made the trip down to Kings Park on Saturday afternoon would have left happy, after the Sharks broke the shackles that had been holding them back all year in recording a rousing 53-11 win over the hapless Western Force.
An error-strewn first half saw neither side really put their best foot forward, although despite the mistakes that were being made by the home side in many facets of play, they were clearly the superior outfit on the day. Two first-half tries, one bye Steven Sykes and the other a lovely first-ever Super Rugby score by centre Paul Jordaan, saw the Sharks lead 20-6 at the break, despite never really finding their rhythm. More worryingly, though flyhalf Pat Lambie took a heavy knock around the half-hour mark and while he recovered well enough to make the break that set up Jordaan’s try, he didn’t come out at all in the second half.
Lambie’s understudy, Fred Michalak, had one of his good days, though and directed matters pretty well as the Sharks cut loose in the second half. Based on a strong tight five platform, the Sharks simply overwhelmed the Force after half time; Louis Ludik scored a minute into the half, followed almost unbelievably quickly by two intercept tries by Lwazi Mvovo within the space of just five minutes. With the resolve and spirit of the visitors now truly broken, the Sharks used the opportunity to bring on the bulk of their bench and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking inexorably toward – and then past – the half century, with Craig Burden and Jacques Botes adding the sixth and seventh tries.
A controversial late score, after the television match official seemed to ignore clear evidence of a foot in touch, was all the Force had to show on a day when they looked under-prepared, uncoached and frankly outclassed from start to finish. For the Sharks, though, this performance will do wonders. It was far from perfect, of course, but the team played as well as they needed to against pretty ordinary opposition and for the first time in living memory, actually put an inferior team to the sword, rather than allowing their out-muscled opposition back into the contest. That fact alone will do wonders for the confidence and perhaps even convince a few pundits to have another look at the Sharks in this competition, who have now managed to claw their way into the top 6 and have their sights set on climbing higher than that over the next few weeks.
SCORERS
Sharks (53) – Tries: Steven Sykes, Paul Jordaan, Lwazi Mvovo(2), Craig Burden, Jacques Botes. Conversions: Patrick Lambie (2), Frederic Michalak (3). Penalties: Patrick Lambie (3).
Force (11) – Try: Sam Wara. Penalty: David Harvey (2).
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Good game by the Sharks but there is still plenty if room left for improvement.
According to a Perth based website, Plumtree is being looked at as a contender to take over at the Force next season. I’m sure that the Force would be thrilled to bob around the middle of table like the Sharks do and Plumtree is exactly the sort of dedicated and professional, albeit uninspiring, coach to take them there.
Some people calling for Lambie as MOTM yet all the score came after he went off?
Lambie had a great game, but MOTM?!?!?!?! NOPE!!
A couple of things that made me smile and cross yesterday
-the referring was shocking last night and this is refering more to the sideline refs..
-how good is it to have the beast back..his presence is seen in the team..strong silent leader..
-i wish mcloed wouldn’t kick as much..those up and unders really get to me..when he has a whole backline to swing it too..
-our midfield was great on defence
-in fact our defence in general was great…
-is something wrong with jp??he doesn’t look like he is enjoying playing..
-mvovo knows how to put gas and the ball should be given to him more often…
Good game to watch..let’s hope this is a upward spiral and the sharks aren’t suffering from a win big n lose big curse that haunts them every year!!!!
Great game by the Sharks! Really nice to see the lads putting away a team when they had them on the back foot.
Have to add; I was flabbergasted to see Ludik burn someone for pace. Didnt know he still had it in him. Good for him!
@KSA Shark © (Comment 3) :
A number of guys played well, but I rather enjoyed both Beast and Coetzee. Agree on Lambie; played well, but cant justify an M.O.M.
An absolute pleasure to watch! We had the gears there all along, they just needed to be put together and switched on!
Now only one big cog needs fixing. We need a scrumhalf! Please give Reinach a bench spot soon!
Botes & Bresler, enormous! If Bresler were a Stormer or Bull they’d be calling for him as a Bok.
Beast has added some potency to our tight 5 and I believe its confidence, knowing they can boss their opposition in scrums now.
Upward curve continues ,few hard battles to still fight but Sharks looking good.
One thing that still concerns me is our defence at times ,not as nailed down as the Stormers .Stormers look like they are paying the price for the brutal defence now ,injury wise.
Agree that the Sharks lacked a certain rythm. Their backline on attack appears to be to flat and at times a bit bundled.
Their defence was awesome and with aggression. Can’t fault any of the players really.
@Flashman (Comment 2) : He’s just one of a bunch of coaches considered, there’s at least another five mentioned that they have approached. Not sure Plum would go to the force – his options of winning s Super title with the Sharks are better than with the Force.
I must say, I don’t think Louis Ludik has been given the credit he’s due for his conduct this season.
At the start of the year, with Riaan Viljoen’s elevation to the starting team (and Riaan’s standard of play at the time, to be fair) it seemed as if Louis’ days might have been numbered. As a result of injuries, Louis was given a chance on the wing, which may not be his best position, but where he did enough that Plum had no hesitation in moving him back to fullback when Viljoen’s standard of play staretd faltering.
The important point is that at no point did you get the impression that Louis was letting his head drop and become disgruntled or demoralised. Instead he never gave up, giving his best at every opportunity presented to him, and right now, with the steadiness and composure he adds at the back, it seems unlikely that Riaan will wrest back the jersey.
I admire and respect that kind of commitment and fighting spirit, and for that, Louis, I salute you!
@Culling Song (Comment 10) : Agreed!
Nice article Rob, agree with your sentiments. Also with remarks that followed.
@Culling Song (Comment 10) :
Give that man a Bell’s!!
@Talent (Comment 7) : Ah please!! Bresler is not a patch on either Etzebeth or Bekker, there would be no calls for him as a Bok even if he was wearing blue.
Great to see our boys cut loose and get the kind of victory they deserve! I would give all of them a ten 🙂
JPP seems like he likes the center posi – kept creeping in there, Louis Ludik – what a star as well as Beast – even Michelak for showing up on the day 🙂
Hope Super Pat is ok….
Do we know if Fransie is definitely coming back to the Sharks?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 14) : ahhhh! Ain’t you just a bright little ray of sunshine again, this mornin… 😛
@Culling Song (Comment 10) : So well said and @Richard Ferguson (Comment 13) : agreed
@Culling Song (Comment 10) : Very nicely said. I do hope that we can find space for both Riaan and Louis though….