Sharks put the choke on Stormers
The Sharks made the critics eat the words as they upstaged the Stormers 26-19 in the Super Rugby semifinal at Newlands on Saturday.
Now the Men from Durban, who last week beat the Reds in Brisbane, will cross the Indian Ocean again to face the Chiefs in the 2012 Super Rugby Final in Hamilton next week.
Happiness in Hamilton, disappointment in Cape Tow and a swelling of pride in Durban. That is what the Shark's victory over the Stormers did on Saturday – oh and it decided where the final match of Super Rugby 2012 will take plave, the Final in Hamilton.
There is no doubt that the finalists, the Chiefs and the Sharks, deserved to be there.
The Sharks may have ended sixth on the Super Rugby log, but their play-off win in Brisbane and their semifinal win at Newlands were well and truly deserved.
After the Chiefs victory over the Crusaders, when the Crusaders looked nothing like the dominating team that had smashed the Bulls apart, one was strongly of the opinion that the advantage lay with the teams who had rested and were playing at home – the Chiefs and the Stormers, but the Sharks' blew that theory right out of the water.
For their two matches the Crusaders had had one hour's flying – from Christchurch (where they beat the Bulls) up to Hamilton (where they lost to the Chiefs).
The Sharks had had to fly to Brisbane from Durban (to beat the Reds) and from Brisbane again the width of Australia, across the Indian Ocean and then two hours down to Cape Town. But they played full of confidence and energy – clearly a team with good spirit.
Not only that, they gave the impression of being the better prepared team, the one with a plan and confidence in that plan.
The Stormers did not look like that. They fumbled, they slipped, they let balls bounce, their scrumming was rickety and they kicked without any point to the kicking. And yet – give them credit – they were close at the end. They have heart and ability, the disappointed Stormers.
On the score of slipping, their backs slipped while no Sharks did – Bryan Habana, Gerhard van den Heever, Juan de Jongh, Joe Pietersen and Jean de Villiers. There was nothing slippery about the field, but they slipped.
They conceded 14 line-outs to six. There were mercifully for them few scrums – just nine in the match, but they were enough to see the Stormers destroyed. And yet when Gio Aplon got that try their spirits rose and with a crowd of 48 026 roaring in excitement, they had their best passage of the match
It was an excellent match. If the Super Rugby Final is as energetic and thrilling as the two semifinals it will be a grand climax to Super Rugby 2012.
The singing minstrels were there in red and gold, the dancing girls and a roar of welcome for the Stormers. There was also a wonderful absence. There was no booing – for the second Super rugby match in a row. The worst of booing grounds is now putting others – like Suncorp Stadium and Waikato Stadium – to shame. If it can be done at Newlands with every corner packed, it can be done anywhere.
The Stormers started well. There was a moment of excitement for the crowd when young Eben Etzebeth bumped into Bismark who was in his path and sent the tough hooker sprawling and in need of medical attention. And afterwards Bismarck was not the force he usually is in a match.
A penalty against Ryan Kankowski gave Peter Grant a kick at goal and the Stormers a 3-0 lead after six minutes.
The Stormers won a turnover and Jean de Villiers had a dash but Dewaldt Duvenage kicked directly into touch. It was far and away the worst kick in the match. Just kicking was bad enough but such a kick…
From the resulting line-out JP Pietersen, playing outside centre, beat De Jongh on the outside and popped a pass to Lwazi Mvovo who had a clear run to the line – or so it seemed till De Villiers flashed in and tackled him into touch 10 metres from the left corner.
The Stormers put the ball into the first scrum of the match. The Sharks destroyed the scrum and the Stormers were penalised – 3-3 after 13 minutes.
The Sharks came back on the attack and went through phases but were clearly not making headway enough and so Frédéric Michalak dropped a goal – 6-3 to the Sharks after 19 minutes.
They were still in the lead 61 minutes later.
The Stormers attacked through phases till Siya Kolisi knocked on. They turned a penalty into a line-out and attacked again till Etzebeth knocked on.
A high kicked bounced and Andries Bekker grabbed it and made ground down the right. The Stormers attacked down the left with Habana racing for the line. As he was tackled he passed inside but De Jongh could not catch the ball. De Villiers did and was over the line but powerful Willem Alberts held him up. From the scrum the Stormers bashed again till Deon Fourie knocked on.
There were two significant high kicks in the same series of phases. First Charl McLeod kicked high and Mvovo beat Aplon for the ball.
Then, just inside his own half, Riaan Viljoen kicked high and Louis Ludik beat Pietersen to the ball. The Sharks right wing got away from Pietersen and beat first Bryan Habana and then De Villiers before racing over for an excellent try at the posts – 13-3 after 36 minutes.
The Stormers then attacked, Anton Bresler was penalised and Grant goaled – 13-6, the half-time score.
Michalak missed two drops at goal but goaled a penalty when the Stormers were penalised for collapsing a maul – 16-6 after 44 minutes.
When McLeod was offside, Grant made it 16-9 – just the try's difference, after 57 minutes but in no time the Sharks stretched the lead.
The Sharks went through patient phases and then went wide left where JP Pietersen cut past Etzebeth for a splendid try – 23-9 with 20 minutes to play.
The Stormers seemed finished but they were not. They went through phases on the right, then on the left and then on the right again where Aplon scythed through two forwards – 23-16 with 14 minutes to play.
The crowd were now roaring as the Stormers came back. They got a penalty slap in front and with eight minutes to go, Grant goaled – 23-19. A try would do it.
But the Sharks won the kick-off and went through a long series of phases before Michalak kicked his second drop of the match – 26-19 with five minutes to play.,
They were exciting minutes as the Stormers got possession and inched downfield but Louis Schreuder kicked for touch with under two minutes to play. The line-out was near the Sharks line but they set about keeping the ball till time was up, but they were penalised five metres from their line. The Stormers tapped and bashed and then went wide left where Habana was tackled, the Sharks won a turnover and Keegan Daniel kicked this team onto a Sunday flight to Australia where they will stay till Thursday.
Man of the Match: Our Man of the Match is JP Pietersen, not because he was born in Stellenbosch but because he is walking tall on the rugby field, head up, confident and striding with confidence.
Moment of the Match: Louis Ludick's brilliant try.
Villain of the Match: Nobody at all. It was a match of excellent manners, epitomised by the Stormer concern when Shark Bismarck was downed.
The scorers:
For the Stormers:
Try: Aplon
Con: Grant
Pens: Grant 4
For the Sharks:
Tries: Ludik, JP Pietersen
Cons: Michalak 2
Pens: Michalak 2
DGs: Michalak 2
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Frans Malherbe, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Don Armand, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.
Sharks: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
Referee: Steve Walsh
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, Marius Jonker
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
By Paul Dobson, at Newlands
