Sharks bite back at Cheetahs
The Sharks scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to come from behind and book their place in the Currie Cup Final next week with a 20-13 victory over the Cheetahs at Kings Park on Saturday.
The visitors made better use of their opportunities in the first half to take a 13-3 lead into the break but they faded under the searing Durban sun in the second half as the defending champions made their dominance count by playing with far more accuracy.
The first half was a stuttering, stop-start affair with both teams battling to hold onto the ball for an extended period and wasting opportunities through a rash of basic errors.
The Sharks had 60% of the possession in the opening forty minutes but could not capitalise with both Patrick Lambie and Frederic Michalak struggling off the kicking tee.
Both teams battled to get momentum going thanks to the basic errors but a high tackle form Sharks inside centre Marius Joubert gave young Cheetahs flyhalf Johan Gooosen a chance to open the scoring and he made no mistake to give his side a 3-0 lead.
The Sharks were straight onto the front foot from the restart ands they stormed into the Cheetahs 22 where they were awarded a penalty of their own for a Cheetahs defender entering a ruck from the side.
Michalak stepped up and promptly pushed the easy kick wide of the poles much to the irritation of the home crowd.
The Cheetahs were presented with an opportunity to double their lead when Sharks prop Tendai Mtawarira shoved Ashley Johnson off the ball and Goosen drilled over the penalty from the halfway line as a reminder to the Sharks that they would have to maintain their discipline in their own half.
Goosen made a great break from inside his own half when he linked well with lock Phillip van der Walt who put the flyhalf in a gap and he surged into the Sharks 22 where he was brought down.
The young playmaker managed to offload to scrumhalf Piet van Zyl who took it close to the line but the Sharks managed to turn the ball over and clear it. The Cheetahs charged back into the 22 but lost it once more.
However Sharks lock Ross Skeate gave them the ball on a silver platter when he knocked it on in front of the poles.
Cheetahs skipper Adriaan Strauss pounced on it and sent it wide to Johnson who showed some good hands to put big fullback Hennie Daniller over for an easy try, and the Sharks would have been kicking themselves for giving away such easy points.
The conversion from Goosen made it 13-0 to the visitors and the Sharks had it all to do.
The home side got a chance to get on the board soon afterwards when Cheetahs prop Marcel van der Merwe was penalised at scrum-time but Michalak missed again as the Sharks continued to conspire against themselves.
That was the French flyhalf’s last involvement of the game as he limped off and was replaced by wing Lwazi Mvov with Lambie moving to flyhalf and Odwa Ndungane moving to fullback.
The Sharks won another penalty close to the touchline and they put their big forward pack to work, with a strong drive from the line-out. JP Pietersen came away with it and had a go at the tryline but he was held up by some committed Cheetahs defenders.
The home side launched a powerful scrum and Willem Alberts forced the ball over the line but he lost the ball forward as he went to place it on the ground and the Cheetahs could clear it as another opportunity slipped through the Sharks’ hands.
The Sharks got their next chance when the Cheetahs front row went down at a scrum, and this time Lambie nailed it, putting his team on the board and reducing the Cheetahs’ lead to 10 points at 13-3 with five minutes left until the break.
Goosen had another shot at goal from the halfway line after Stefan Terblanché charged him with his shoulder while he was lying on the ground but he pulled it wide this time depite easily having enough distance on the kick.
A missed Goosen drop-goal attempt brought the first half to an end, and although the Cheetahs would have been the happier of the two teams with their 10-point lead both sides would have been disappointed with the standard of their play.
The Sharks clearly got a stern talking to from coach John Plumtree at the break and they played with far greater unity and determination once they came out of the changeroom, while the Cheetahs failed to trouble the scorers in a disappointing second-half performance.
The Sharks got on the front foot early when Mvovo collected a kick ahead and was tackled late by Ryno Benjamin after he had kicked it ahead.
The Sharks set up an attacking line-out and played to their strengths powering their way over the gain line until Mtawarira was able to force his way over for a try near the right corner.
Lambie knocked the conversion over and the game was in the balance at 13-10 to the Cheetahs.
The home side were certainly playing with far more accuracy and purpose after the break and the momentum shift started affecting their opponents who gave the ball away too easily with captain Adriaan Strauss battling to find his line-out jumpers.
The Sharks bashed their way into the strike zone once more and after Lambie, Deysel and a few others were denied from scoring by some desperate defending by the Cheetahs they sent it wide where there was an overlap and Ndungane coasted over to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.
Lambie’s simple conversion made it 17-13 and the Sharks were showing how dangerous they can be when they manage to protect their possession.
The Cheetahs finally managed to get some meaningful possession and Robert Ebersohn burst through a gap in midfield before getting it away to Johnson who shovelled it wide to Benjamin. He chipped ahead and chased hard but the Sharks took it into touch and managed to turn the ball over after the attacking line-out from the visitors.
The Cheetahs were looking treatening when they got their hands on the ball but time was running out with just ten minutes left, and despite their ability to break the line the cover defence of the Sharks was holding up to the challenge.
The home side continued to pressurise the Cheetahs and they charged towards the line once more, eventually winning a penalty with the opposition straying off-side. Lambie kicked it over and the Sharks had a valuable seven-point lead with minutes left to play.
By this stage the Cheetahs were out on their feet under the Durban sun, and the Sharks took the opportunity to play the game out deep in opposition territory.
The Sharks will be delighted with the result but they will also know that they made far too many basic errors while the Cheetahs will be left rueing missing a golden opportunity to register an upset by falling off the pace in the second half which they have done a couple of times this season.
Man of the Match: The Sharks forwards were destructive, getting over the gain line regularly and most prominent amongst them was hooker Bismarck du Plessis who brought his characteristic physicality to the contest and stole plenty of possession for his team as well.
Moment of the Match: Ryno Benjamin’s late tackle on Lwazi Mvovo gave away the penalty that led to the Sharks first try as the home side snatched the momentum.
Villain of the Match: There were none.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Tries: Matawarira, Ndungane
Cons: Lambie 2
Pens: Lambie 2
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Daniller
Cons: Goosen
Pens: Goosen 2
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanché, 12 Marius Joubert, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Conrad Hoffmann, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Jean Deysel, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Marcell Coetzee, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Ross Cronjé, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Lwazi Mvovo.
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Ryno Benjamin, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Ashley Johnson, 6 Pieter Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Philip van der Walt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Nico Scheepers.
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Lesego Legoete, Marc van Zyl
TMO: JC Fortuin
