The Sharks nascent attacking game sprang into glorious life at Kings Park this afternoon, the home team scoring four tries to record a memorable 32-15 win over the visiting Hurricanes.
Not that this was some airy-fairy display of “running rugby” – the sort that landed the Lions in so much rouble last week – though. The Sharks battered and bullied their way to a famous win, with superb set-piece and gain-line work by the loose forward (and that ever-present defence) creating the space and the opportunity to keep ball in hand when required.
In a first half that was even in score terms, one felt that the Sharks were playing the big points better; edging matters in the kicking game, winning more turnovers, conceding fewer knock-ons and crucially, softening up the Hurricanes players with a succession of merciless big tackles. Garth April’s early penalty was cancelled out by Beauden Barrett in the only scoring action of the first half hour. Canes prop Reg Goodes broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the break with a good try after the Sharks had conceded a little too much gain-line ground, but with Barrett’s missed conversion and JP Pietersen’s superb score on the hooter, the sides turned at 8-all. Pietersen’s score had come at the perfect time, with the perennial Keegan Daniel the man making the initial break to set up the score.
The 20 minutes after half time belonged to the men in black, with Pietersen scoring his second shortly after the resumption. Strong defence caused a dropped ball behind the Canes back-line; Pietersen sprinted through, hacked ahead and then regathered to pick up his brace; April’s conversion moved the Sharks into a 7-point lead. Next up was Michael Claassens, darting over for the third ten minutes later when the Canes conceded a penalty close to their line. April again added the extras and the Sharks were suddenly ahead 22-8. That kick was to be the flyhalf’s final act in the game and it was hard to tell whether the standing ovation when he came off was because of his fine showing, or to welcome back his replacement, one Patrick Jonathan Lambie.
The Sharks continued to pile on the pressure, Lambie slotting a penalty to open up a lead of more than two scores. The try that should have secured the bonus point was scored by Daniel du Preez off the back of a dominant 5m scrum in the 69th minutes, but alas, as some defensive structure was lost due to the introduction of a number of replacements, the Canes had the final say with a try of their own 5 minutes from the end.
After a long tour and with more travel ahead of them, this fine win will be just the tonic the Sharks need ahead of their trip to Beunos Aires to face los Jaguares.
Bravo Sharks, bravo!
Scores: Sharks (32): Tries JP Pietersen (2), Michael Claassens, Daniel du Preez. Conversions Garth April (2), Patrick Lambie. Penalties April, Lambie
Hurricanes (15): Tries Reg Goodes, James Marshall. Conversion Jason Woodward. Penalty Beauden Barrett
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Very well done, Sharks!
Well done!!!
Now we’re in business!
Much better intent shown. Improvement!!!
Easy peasy
Garth and Patrick… damm.. looks like we have found two decent flyhalves
I almost don’t believe my eyes sharks turning over other teams. Keegan Daniel was a monster today. Every man on the field playing his guts out. So hungry and relentless. That’s what sharks are all about. Welcome back sharks, long time no see…
@SharksRTB (Comment 6) : …and Claassens service was beautifully crisp.
Great game Sharks!
@Pokkel (Comment 9) : You’ll be able to come around here more often this week, the negative nancies won’t have much to moan about…’cept maybe the ref 😉
Congrats Sharks! Canes are absolute masters of that offside line so well done on some brilliant composure.
hte ref was kak
I don’t wish injury onto anyone, but Reinach’s injury is a blessing in disguise for the Sharks. Claassens is just pure class!
@robdylan (Comment 12) : how about that break away by Mvovo and Jordaan? Pity it didn’t result in a try but Mvovo’s timing and vision on the pass back to Jordaan was absolute magic.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 10) : For a change the Sharks is playing the kind of game the “negative nancies” have been calling for all along.
Kak seems a little to polite.
@robdylan (Comment 12) : not that bad compared to how he usually blows against us. Did miss at least 3 yellow card offences though.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 15) : Definitely, maybe they are listening. 😉
Great win Sharks! So many aspects are starting to click into place.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 15) : The Sharks have been building toward this style, and today they got rewarded for it….so, maybe Gold actually knows what he’s doing.
Who was man of the match? I feel Keegan was outSTANDing!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 10) : You forgot about the bonus point that was botched.
@robdylan (Comment 12) : flip that is no untruth! especially first 30 mins.
well done guys and all round great improvement. Less knocks and even Andre offloading. Cant wait for Mallet to find negatives
@Kabouter (Comment 23) : Just Paul that butchered two tries by not passing
@Ben (Comment 22) : We’ll put that one toward the ref’s account 🙂
@FireTheLooser (Comment 25) : Hope he has very strong shoulders. 🙂
Sharks XV scrum is useless
Sharks XV 10 WP XV 11
Well done my Sharkies. That I can watch every Saturday with pleasure. Focussed, committed, energetic, intelegent rugby… and a very kak ref
Unfortunately missed the game but glad to read that the Sharks had a great performance! Big congrats to the players and coaches!
Sharks XV 17 WP XV 11 Tedder with all the points for the Sharks so far
Sithole bounced the one guy from WP into another timezone 😆
@KingRiaan (Comment 32) : Where you watching?
@FireTheLooser (Comment 33) : At Kings Park
WP XV dominating the scrums
Awesome game by the boys – the hard work is starting to pay off as the guys become fluent in their roles.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 20) :
I think that some people just can’t grasp this concept. They will probably believe that this is a sudden success or a change in game plan.
Scrums a tad better now, Juan Schoeman is on
Yellow card for Mzamo Majola
And the Sharks win a scrum penalty!
@Big Fish (Comment 36) : Just shows, as supporters we need to remain patient, especially with the Sharks building a new team/culture/style.
I’m hoping the Sharks kik on from here, but will keep my expectations in check, while our team build towards this new dawn in Sharks rugby.
I love good rugby. Sometimes running rugby isn’t good rugby. Tonight was a fantastic display of what good rugby is. Well done sharks, silence those critics.
Sharks XV 17 WP XV 16
@KingRiaan (Comment 24) : Went to his farm this week and he is just playing rugby for the love. Impressive assets.
Pity as it would have been a fairy tale if Pat scored. So impressed by the guys
@KingRiaan (Comment 42) : Keep going gents! Would be just a cherry on top
@Hulk (Comment 41) : Well said….I hate all-out running rugby, reminds me of NBA.
Sharks working toward the perfect balance between kicking, running and defending.
TRY! Eksteen Sharks XV 24 WP XV 16
Sharks XV win!
@KingRiaan (Comment 47) : Sharks should charge Gert Smal a fee, he got the opportunity to learn how rugby should be played during two consecutive Sharks games…..school was in session 😈
Any idea where I can see some video highlights of the game online? Supersport.com have forgotten that there’s a team called the Sharks. They uploaded a faulty video last week of the Sharks game and they haven’t got around to uploading a game that finished hours ago.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 48) : the Sharks XV were lucky to have won, the WP XV bossed almost all things in the game
Best Sharks game for ages.To the idiots that were calling for the twins heads here last week,please try and watch a live game some time before you open your vacuous pie holes.The amount and quality of tackles those two make is worth the entrance fee everyday.To watch two twenty year olds intimidating seasoned All Blacks like that is a joy to behold.The outstanding players today were the twins,Lewies who should have been MOM,Esterhuizen,JPP and Michael Claassens,how Gold left that solid intellegent man on the bench all those games for the erratic glory boy Reinarch is one of the wonders of modern rugby.
Everyone came to the party today,great day to be at Kings Park and its so satisfying to see Pat back.
2 great Sharks victories!!! Big congratulations to all the players and coaches!!!
@The hound (Comment 51) : very glad you enjoyed the game! Shark fans really deserved a performance like that!
Psdt younger boet looks incredibly mobile and he had a pretty good game against wp. Looks a good prospect for the future
It will be interesting to see the selection for next week. Gold must surely start Adriaanse and Keegan ahead of young du preez and Coenie after tonight, we need that stability. Chilliboy is going to make it tough for cooper to be in the re conning for hooker. It would also be interesting to see if we risk Lambie in the argies game or keep April in and use Lambie on impact. April has been doing a great job and should be allowed to build, but Pat has the magic. As for Le roux I think he might need a rest next week and maybe Jordaan or Esterhuizen too. This kind of play will make the sharks a great place once again to mature the young talents of du preez boys Thomas du toit and Kleinhans.
@The hound (Comment 51) : You need to add Keegan to that list. He did everything – line breaks, tackling, stealing lineout, but score a try.
@Bokhoring (Comment 56) : Forgot to add clearing his lines like a fly half.
@The hound (Comment 51) : AE has the same impact on defense as the twins ,so much so that opposition players start avoiding his channel .
Agree on the pretty rosy assessments of the players. I think Beast and April also had very good games.
Regarding the twins and Esterhuizen, yesterday demonstrated the reason for the persistence with them. They are absolute menaces on defence, while they pretty much get over the advantage line at will.
Esterhuizen has caused teams to actually abandon the well-worn set piece move of having a big, mobile forward carry the ball into midfield; he mows them all down regardless.
What was Paul Jordaan thinking, such a simple pass for a certain try. Eish.
@Big Fish (Comment 59) : Watched the game again this morning and still think Lewies was M.O.M can’t wait for Botha to get back and then we have the best lock pairing in South Africa,better than Ethebeth and PSDT,better than the Amish kid from the Free State.
@The hound (Comment 61) : hahaha the amiss kid! Damn that made me laugh
Apart from the Sharks managing to loose fewer balls, 5 reasons for a more complete performance:
2) Starting hooker that has improved his lineout work plus a reserve hooker that maintains the standard
3) Continued selection of an actual tight head
6) The guile of Keegan Daniel complements the physicality of the twins leading to a much more balanced loose trio
9) a scrumhalf whose first instinct is not to kick good turnover ball away
10) flyhalves who will take the ball to the line and keep the defence guessing
@Bokhoring (Comment 63) : The pack has also now had time to settle and starting to play as a unit. EO has been immense but needs a break to rest. Super impressed despite the points not scored
@Bokhoring (Comment 63) : Agreed absolutely. But let’s not forget Keegan Daniel; he was monstrous. And how about that machine we have playing at 6? Also, Keegan Daniel, hot damn!
@Bokhoring (Comment 56) : glad to hear he’s back t his best!!! Awesome player!!!
@robdylan (Comment 12) : Rob can you please check why my IP seems to be marked as spam. To comment I need to sign out everyday and log in everyday. Don’t know if the problem is on my side?
@shrodingers cat (Comment 58) : not a lot of players are brave enough to run into Andre!!!
@Bokhoring (Comment 63) : great to see senior players stepping up and performing as well as youngsters showing that they can belong there!
@The hound (Comment 61) : Amish kid XD
@The hound (Comment 61) : Lewies always had potential to be a super lock if only he can stay injury free!!!
@JD (Comment 71) : He has gone beyond potential since this tour started he has become the real thing.He has a lot of Martin Johnson to his play.
@The hound (Comment 72) : must say really sad that Lewies and PSDT was never able to play together (for a season or 2) as I personally think they would have been the best lock combination in SA (if not the world).
@JD (Comment 73) : I agree find Lewies a much more intelligent player than Ethebeth
Ethebeth is a player in the Bismarck mould goes on the field with the express purpose of physically intimidating the opposition,
playing rugby comes second.
Andre Esterhuizen should have been MOM. He was a monster yesterday. Keegan and Du Preez twins as well as EO were awesome on defence. Claasens was good but have doubts about Ungerer. He seems to have lost form drastically. Reinach will be missed.
@sudhir (Comment 75) : Ungerer needs time to play as he hardly played Super rugby this season!
@The hound (Comment 74) : for sure Lewies is physical without losing his cool and conceding stupid penalties.
it all starts with the front row, in particular tight head. Adriaanse needs to start all the big games at 3. Theres a drastic improvement to our scrums whenever he’s on.
and happy mothers day to any mothers out there!
@RuckingFun (Comment 78) : Absolutely agree and to that end we should see if we can sell Coenie back to the Cheetahs or at least swap him for the Westville boy Tiaan Meyer who is playing so well as our back up 9
@JD (Comment 77) : That’s what I like about Esterhuizen too, mammoth in the physicality department, yet combines it with a good temperament….very rare for SA players – Sharks seem to be building hard players, without the old dirty temperament.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 81) : he just had a bit of a problem with tipping players in the tackle (don’t think it was I tensional) but that seems to be sorted.
@RuckingFun (Comment 78) : for sure I’m very glad to see Adriaanse is really stepping up and performing to his full potential!
@JD (Comment 82) : He seems to be a phenominaly physically strong guy, so his technique probably required tweaking. As you say, it seems to be fixed.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 84) : I’m very glad they were able to fix his technique before he got into real trouble!
@The hound (Comment 80) : Our two front rows on Saturday were very good. Coenie is 3rd choice now in my view. You can get excited about linking and back play but if your set piece is bad, rugby is a difficult game. Agree on Lewies too. Scrums lineouts and loose play; he was immense.
How did Sithole play in the Sharks XV game?
This was the best performance i have seen under Gary Gold. The big differences for me was the better handling and then more importantly was the consistent physicality at the tackle and breakdown. If the Sharks can maintain that physicality in the contact situations they will be tough to beat going forward as we have seen first hand what happens when a team doesnt get ascendancy in those areas. I had given the Dupreez and especially Andre stick and they all had good games. Andre is limited but he did what he can do very well. The twins are fantastic tacklers and really get stuck in…i would still like to see them pass the ball a bit more like they did in preseason as i believe that will make them even more dangerous. I must take my hat off to 2 older Sharks men though in Keegan Daniel and JP Pieterson…both of them stood up today in front of their home ground and showed just why they are Sharks legends.
On Saturday i saw one side get bullied at the breakdown, have a creaky set piece, and make numerous handling errors…but this time it wasnt the Sharks 🙂 It does however make one realise what can happen to even a good team when they are put under pressure and get dominated in the contact situations…
@MikeSebMatt (Comment 87) : Very well, made an impression
Great win,great game and Im sure a great confidence booster.
@Bokhoring (Comment 57) : Keegan was great but that try that robbed us of the bonus point came from his kick that didnt find touch – it was almost the best line kick of the day but was just that bit short of clearing the line. Now I feel bad for bringing that up.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 92) : Even if it went out, at that stage the Canes would have taken a quick lineout and ran it back. I would rather blame the try on a rare moment of the defense allowing the Canes to make to many meters.
It was an amazing game! I loved the offloading and the improved tactical kicking! It felt as if Gary had read my article and taken it to heart
@Vonno13 (Comment 90) : Very glad to hear. Hopefully he will get a chance to travel to Argentina!
@ChrisS (Comment 94) : ja maybe but please in future do your article earlier in the season. ;-P
This was another game I missed. I’m starting to think I’m the worst Shark supporter ever. Not only do I not back my team on Superbru, but I allow small events prevent me from watching them play. Well done to these youngsters, I did not think they would have been able to put up this kind of effort after that tour, and against a team that put the Lions away convincingly the week before. Think the future looks good…may they improve even more.
Was it just me or did I notice the coaches holding hands when we scored! ? great game for the guys I said need a good game. Beast, Daniel, Jpp abd even Lambie when he came on picked where April left off. Feel good today.
@Farlington (Comment 97) : I also missed the game but I think I must stop watching them because they play better in the games I miss?!?!