The Sharks have delivered perhaps their most passionate and committed display of the season to date to record a comfortable 22-10 victory over the Stormers at Kings Park this evening.
Starting the game in imperious form, it was lock forward Ruan Botha who plucked the opening kick-off out of the drizzly evening sky to set the tone for a monstrous individual performance at the heart of a Sharks pack that never took a step back all game. With Thomas du Toit and Coenie Oosthuizen joining in, Botha and the others took the challenge to the Stormers, edging the lineout contest, standing form in the scrums and, most importantly, putting in massive hits on defence and punching holes with ball in hand.
Defence was a big theme for the whole side, though and with only a single try conceded in 80 minutes, it was the work done without ball in hand that was arguably most special about this display, with the Sharks repelling wave after wave of increasingly frantic Stormers attack, particularly in the second half.
Garth April slotted an early penalty, before the opening try to Johan Deysel set the Sharks up with an 8-0 lead over their opponents. The Sharks set the pace in those early exchanges and duly scored a second after good pressure in the 22 forced a penalty. Cobus Reinach took the quick tap and Stephan Lewies eventually crashed over after a patient build-up, the big lock scoring his first try in this competition after nearly 50 games in black and white.
Heading into the shed with a handy 15-0 lead, the Sharks had to work hard to prevent a far more direct Stormers team from scoring in the second half. A penalty and a try to SP Marais narrowed the gap to just five points, but to the Sharks’ credit, they showed great composure to prevent further damage and instead scored again themselves. That last try was a thing of beauty, with S’busiso Nkosi – a deserved man of the match – taking a wonderful pass as first receiver off a lineout 30 metres out. He brushed past a weak tackle from Ramone Samuels and blazed through to score under the posts with a cheeky swallow dive. April’s conversion capped a fine individual performance for the flyhalf as well and the Sharks were good value for their 12-point win over the Africa 1 conference leaders.
Thoughts go to Lukhanyo Am, though, who left the field int he first half with a broken jaw – an injury sure to curtail his involvement in the Springbok series against France.
Sharks (22): Tries Deysel, Lewies, Nkosi. Conversions April (2). Penalty April
Stormers (10): Try Marais. Conversion Marais. Penalty Marais.
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Really impressive! The patience was so impressive…for our first try we hung onto the ball for a full 3 minutes before Deysel went over. And the defence! Great stuff, men!
Sympathies to Am if he is indeed out of the test matches…
It @pastorshark (Comment 1) : is great to b a Sharks supporter – brilliant game guys, well done! Awesome defense, amazing passion – keep it up! U guys rock!
@Julesgr8ter (Comment 3) : Now to up the consistency…
Another guy who took flak a few weeks ago and who was really good was Dan du Preez…keep it up young man…
Great victory!!! Sorry to hear of Am and hope he will be ready after the break! I’m sure he will get his chance at the end of year tour!
@pastorshark (Comment 4) : especially when playing “weaker” teams!!!!
@pastorshark (Comment 1) : Commentator said 15 phases…..very impressive.
And it just seems like we got the better deal with that Ruan Botha fellow…
@pastorshark (Comment 9) : The best lock trio in SA, sad to be losing Etienne, but bok coach is too blind to see what was patently evident tonight…..then we wonder why players flee off-shore: talent and form is not being rewarded.
How immense was Johan Deysel? His defense was top notch. I didn’t see him miss a tackle and he put in some massive hits!
Wow, what a game from the boys. Well done. Special mention goes to Deysel, Nkosi and most of all Dan Du Preez. He finally delivered a performance that said I also want to be mentioned when people talk about a Bok loose trio. Well done young man. I must go back to Sbu Nkosi. Wow. That boy is a Bok. Pity he is only getting his chance now but wow. What a breath of fresh air from the norm. Rest of the guys, Connie, Thomas, Chilli, Charl, Botha, Lewis, Cobus (best scrumhalf performance I have seen from his in 2years), April, Kobus, Mvovo, JLDP, Charl, Odwa, Eitienne, AM…. thank you boys.
@jakkalas (Comment 11) : Really good…on the other thread I said he was the other guy who came in for major flak after the Kings guy who was massive today!!
Great Win .. !! I always enjoy beating the Stormers , Etzebeth is a show pony got hammered today , big boy but he does not know how to use it both incumbent bok locks were outplayed by our locks and what is with these articles everywhere that make it sound that the Stormers almost made a comeback and the sharks were lucky to win ? the commentators rave about how good a team the Stormers are and how good their players are but they were smashed today by a better team !!
So the Jags have just lost to the Brumbies…and that means the Sharks have qualified for the playoffs…well done, men!
@GreatSharksays (Comment 12) : thought Philip also played his heart out.
@Rienke36 (Comment 16) : Yes of course. Forgot to mention him. Certainly brought another dimension to the field.
@John (Comment 14) : Hehehehe, one article headed “Sharks Edge Stormers”. Don’t stress too much about the media, they support the Stormers and will always try to make them look good. The only concern is that the Bok coach is also a big Stormers fan. On a different note, really hope Dan builds from his performance yesterday.
Well done Sharks! Missed the game unfortunately 🙁
@vanmartin (Comment 19) : I got to watch the first 35mins….thought I remembered to record the game, and had to settle for the 30min. highlight package on catchup….at least I got to see Nkosi’s try on highlights, as well as our lock duo schooling the bok locks during the first 35min.
Some sore bodies after that crunch up. All the best boys!
We’ll Well done, Sharks.
Great game to watch. A lot of passion from the boys, and good to see everyone playing as a team.
Nkosi looks like a special talent. That try was a thing of beauty.
@pastorshark (Comment 15) : Pity we dropped the games against the Rebels and Kings – could have had a 2 point buffer over the Highlanders at this stage. Now we will probably have to settle for the 8th spot in the playoffs.
@StevieS (Comment 22) : “It was nothing special”- according to Robbie Fleck in Rapport. Talk about sour grapes, Obviously others thought it was special or the journalist woud not have asked him about it.
Fantastic to see S’busiso Nkosi pointing to the sharks emblem on his jersey after scoring his try.
Shows passion for the sharks.
@Bump (Comment 25) :
I also enjoyed that. May seem a small thing, but we really need to raise a generation of players who have passion for the jersey. Having read the interview in which he talked about having posters of Lwazi and Odwa on his bedroom wall growing up, it just confirmed his passion for the Sharks.
Coincidentally, it also reiterated for me why growing rugby in the Eastern Cape is so important.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 24) : I didn’t hear that. Talk about not being gracious in defeat. I expected more from him.
@Bokhoring (Comment 23) : Yeah, 6th spot and a quarter against the Stormers would have been lovely…
@Big Fish (Comment 26) : @Bump (Comment 25) : Am putting his body (and face) on the line, knowing an injury would cost him his Bok debut, tells me this group have rediscovered the passion for the jersey.
They play for the jersey and for each other, everybody runs to congratulate the try scorers….tons of passion on display, and it is growing with each week – ‘cept for the few hiccups.
@Bump (Comment 25) : @Big Fish (Comment 26) : I loved seeing the reaction of all the Sharks players in the 40th minute when JLdP made that turnover 5m out just before halftime…really good to see!
@StevieS (Comment 27) : Expecting more from Fleck is something I’ve never been in danger of doing!
@StevieS (Comment 27) : I also didnt hear it but read it in the Rapport so must have been asked at the presser after the game. I wish those pressers were broadcast, made available on line or even as podcasts.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 32) : The Sharks stream them, dunno about the other teams. Wish I’d seen this weekends one, can’t find anything about sour grape fleckie boy anywhere 😥
@pastorshark (Comment 31) : 😆
@Mephisto_Shark (Comment 33) : https://youtu.be/0FSUT_yAXJ4
here it is.. sour grapes
@Mephisto_Shark (Comment 33) : Never knew that, where do they stream them? they should be able to make them available as podcasts then.
@Kabouter (Comment 35) : not even prepared to acknowledge Sharks playing well – all about how bad they were
@Kabouter (Comment 35) : much thanks
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 36) : I get notifications on FB, their page has all the vids I think
@Kabouter (Comment 37) : And apparently all our tries were ‘soft’. If that’s the case, the only one they scored should fall under the same category as it was almost a copy of the one Lewies scored. Never thought Fleck would be such a sore loser. Although most of the time I feel the Streamers are sore losers anyway. Wish we played them twice a year in SR:lol:
@Mephisto_Shark (Comment 39) : Thanks, I will check them out.
Does anyone also get the impression that PSdT is not a happy camper at the moment. He looked miserable the whole time, maybe they are playing him with an injury.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 42) : Not that I noticed him being unhappy, but I can’t remember him ever being that anonymous whilst playing for us. Hope he fnds his mojo because on form he is one of the best (and the Boks could do with some of that).
However whilst the topic is on locks, just got to say how fantastic our locks were. We have 3 fantastic locks at the moment and so sad that Oostuhuizen isn’t going to be with us next year.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 41) : check your gmail
@robdylan (Comment 44) : Thank you, I really appreciate it.