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Sharks outclass Griquas in Kimberley

CURRIE CUP REPORT: The Sharks’ amplified their superiority with a comfortable 41-11 win over the Griquas on Saturday.

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The Sharks outscored the Griquas seven tries to one  – which includes a brace of tries by Springbok wing Lwazi Mvovo and former Western Province wing Leolin Zas.

There were a few areas that need some work, the most notable is fullback Aphlea Fassi’s errors failure to hold onto the ball behind the try-line.

However, aside from minor handling errors, the Sharks were in fine form, which sends out a stern warning to Blue Bulls, Golden Lions and the defending champions the Western Province.

The result means the Sharks will host a semifinal at Kings Park Stadium in Durban next week.

While the Griquas are left to reevaluate their dismal season.

Shark modified their loose trio just before the match, Luke Stringer joined the side with Tyler Paul and Jacques Vermeulen moving to No.8 and openside, respectively.

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Griquas had the perfect start, the hosts’ flyhalf George Whitehead made sure they took an early 3-0 lead after the Sharks were penalised inside their own half.

Shortly afterwards, the Sharks hit back with the first try of the match. Instigated by a powerful five-metre scrum, Robert Du Preez made a break but fell short, eventually, Jeremy Ward went over the line for the five-pointer.

In the midst of very windy conditions, Curwin Bosch couldn’t manage to add the extras and the score remained 5-3.

The Sharks extended their lead after 15 minutes of play. A perfectly floating pass by Robert Du Preez was scooped up by Mvovo, the wing raced past three defenders and dived over in the corner for his first try. Again, Bosch’s kick went wide of the uprights.

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Mvovo’s try was an ominous warning of what was to come for the Griquas.

Just after Whitehead’s second successful penalty, the Sharks took full of advantage of the Griquas’ nonexistence defence.  A great line-out move made sure Akker van der Merwe muscled his way past two defenders for a try. Bosch finally managed to split the uprights for the extras two points.

Soon Sharks had the bonus-point in the bag. From the ruck, the ball was shifted to Fassi, who found Mvovo outwide. The wing had acres of space and strolled over the line for his brace.

Bosch added the extras for the 24-6 lead at the break.

The Sharks continued where they left off, just minutes after the second half the visitors extended their lead.  A solid break for the hooker Van der Merwe was followed up with an amazing break from former Western Province wing Zas, who went over for Sharks’ fifth try. Bosch added the extras for the 31-6 lead.

The Sharks’ expansive brand of rugby was again rewarded as great interplay by Fassi and Sibusiso Nkosi made sure the Durban-based team had a 30-point advantage over the Griquas.

Zas got his second after receiving a timely loop pass from Bosch. Zas followed it up with a  solid hand-off before diving dived over the line.

Griquas broke the Sharks’ defence on the 67th minute, however, Enver Brandt’s score was cancelled by the referee due to a forward pass

The hosts finally managed to register their first try with minutes left of the clock. From the set-piece, the Griquas worked the ball to the middle which made sure captain Kyle Steyn went over the line for the consolation try.

Man of the match: Robert Du Preez had a noteworthy performance at inside centre, while Lwazi Mvovo and Leolin Zas showed their finishing prowess. However, for his solid performance in the pack, along with a few significant runs and a try, our nod goes to Sharks hooker Akker van der Merwe.

The scorers:

For Griquas
Try: Steyn
Pens: Whitehead 2

For Sharks:
Tries: Ward, Mvovo 2, Van der Merwe, Zas 2 , Nkosi
Cons: Bosch 3

Teams:

Griquas: 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Kyle Steyn (captain), 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Conway Pretorius, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Khwezi Mkhafu, 1 Devon Martinus.
Replacments: 16 Liam Hendricks, 17 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 18 Jonathan Janse van Rensburg, 19 Eital Bredenkamp, 20 Louis Venter, 21 Stephan Janse van Rensburg, 22 Edwin Sass.

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sibusiso Nkosi, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Robert du Preez, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Tyler Paul, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 John-Hubert Meyer, 18 JJ van der Mescht, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Grant Williams, 21 Marius Louw, 22 Leolin Zas.

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze
TMO: Lourens van der Merwe

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