Sharks win Newlands arm-wrestle

The Sharks were made to work hard, but will go into the Currie Cup semifinals on the back of a four-match winning streak.

The men from Durban, who will travel to Johannesburg to take on the Lions at Ellis Park next Saturday, edged Western Province 28-20 in a dour arm-wrestle at Newlands on Saturday.

The result of the match does not affect the final standings, but will ensure the defending champion Sharks take some momentum into the play-offs.

While Province played with enthusiasm and determination in the first half, the Sharks – apart from a brief opening stanza – looked devoid of any creative ideas. Add in a litany of errors and that would explain the unexpected half-time score – 20-11 in favour of WP.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the game was a dead rubber anyway, after the Lions' win earlier in the day, but the Sharks' focus and intensity lacked that of a team determined to retain the trophy they won last year.

The Sharks showed a lot more energy, and intent, in the second half. However, their execution was still letting them down all too often – including wing Tonderai Chavhanga putting the ball down cold with an open tryline.

However, they found a way back into the game, through their superior set-piece play – demolishing the Province scrum and stealing several line-outs, depriving the home side of attacking opportunities.

It wasn't very pretty, but it was effective and it also allowed them to outscore the Cape Town outfit 17-0 in the second half.

The Sharks made an early statement of intent, a counter from deep inside their half that ended with  Sibusiso Sithole using his pace to go around the cover for the opening try. The conversion was wide, but the visitors were on the board.

In the 10th minute Kurt Coleman pulled three points back and then gave his team the lead in the 15th minute (6-5) with another penalty.

Lionel Cronje put the Sharks back in the lead, before Pat Howard found a huge hole in the Sharks' already brittle defence to stroll over. Coleman's conversion made it 13-8.

Coleman then produced his own moment of magic, a try and conversion, as Province raced into a 20-8 lead.

A scrum penalty in the 35th minute was the Sharks' next scoring opportunity – Cronje narrowing the gap to 11-20, which was also the half-time score.

The Sharks also scored the first points of the second half – Cronje slotting a penalty after a maul was sacked illegally, and then another after a breakdown offence, making it 17-20 after 45 minutes.

WP were reduced to 14 men – and Cronje levelled the scorers – after Rynhardt Elstadt was sent to the sin bin for repeatedly sacking mauls in an illegal manner.

Another couple of penalties gifted the Sharks a line-out five metres from the WP line, replacement prop Lourens Adriaanse working his way over from close range. Cronje was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt – 25-20 to the visitors.

With just over five minutes left on the clock a scrum penalty allowed Fred Zeilinga stretch the lead to eight points, 28-20.

And they hung on for the win against a tiring WP outfit.

Man of the match: Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Gerbrandt Grobler provided the spark up front in the first half. Lubabalo Mtembu put in the hard yards, while Sibusiso Sithole was always a threat on attack. However, our award goes to Sharks veteran Jacques Botes – who continued to be the go-to man for the men from Durban and played like a proverbial spring chicken.

Scorers:

For Western Province:

Tries: Howard, Coleman

Cons: Coleman 2

Pens: Coleman 2

For the Sharks:

Tries: Sithole, Adriaanse

Pens: Cronje 5, Zeilinga

Yellow card: Rynhardt Elstadt (Western Province, 3 – repeated infringements, illegally sacking a maul)

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 EW Viljoen, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Brok Harris (captain), 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Oliver Kebble.

Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Gavin Annandale, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Patrick O'Brien, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Chevandre van Schoor.

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo  Mtembu (captain), 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Franco Marais. 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 JC Astle, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Fred Zeilinga.

Referee: Jaco Peyper

Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Marc van Zyl

TMO: Shaun Veldsman