Bok star suffers injury in opening minute as Sharks see off Cardiff
MATCH REPORT: The Sharks got their United Rugby Championship campaign back on track with a 36-21 victory over Cardiff in Wales on Friday.
The visitors produced a strong final quarter to see off their opponents, and in the end they had six tries on the scoresheet, with Matt Romao scoring a brace.
However, it wasn’t all positive as the Sharks and Springboks suffered a big injury blow in the opening minute of the game.
It looked like captain and centre Andre Esterhuizen rolled his ankle after a rough landing off the first aerial contest and he was forced off the artificial surface at Cardiff Arms Park.
He was eventually seen with crutches, and his right foot was in a moon boot.
Despite that setback, it was the perfect start for the Sharks on attack, with Jurenzo Julius going through a gap before offloading to Ethan Hooker, who ran in for the five-pointer in the second minute.
A few minutes later Cardiff showed their attacking flair with their first attack of the game. Le Roux Malan ran a great line to go through the Sharks defence before the ball went wide through the hands to Josh Adams, who finished off in the corner.
The Sharks thought they scored their second try in the 23rd minute when Zekhethelo Siyaya weaved his way past three defenders on his way to the tryline. However, it was ruled out after the TMO spotted a knock-on in the build-up.
That second score eventually came a few minutes later after Romao ran a good line to go through Cardiff’s defence to get the five points.
After a period of dominance, which included the scrums, the Sharks showed some patience with ball in hand and after a powerful maul, lock Jason Jenkins went over for the third try.
At half-time, it was 17-7 to the Sharks.
The home side had the Sharks under the pump in the opening minutes of the second half, and they were rewarded when James Botham powered over for a try in the 45th minute.
Cardiff were in front in the 58th minute after Botham got his second try, only for them to relinquish the lead a few minutes later after Thomas du Toit scored the bonus-point try.
The visitors took the game away from Cardiff in the 74th minute with a try from Ethan Bester after a powerful driving maul before they capped off the win with Romao going over for his second try before the end.
Man of the match: Matt Romao scored a brace, while Zekhethelo Siyaya was a livewire on attack. However, our ward goes to centre Jurenzo Julius, who tore Cardiff’s defence to pieces on several occasions with ball in hand.
The scorers:
For Cardiff:
Tries: Adams, Botham 2
Cons: Evans 3
For Sharks:
Tries: Hooker, Romao 2, Jenkins, Du Toit, Bester
Cons: Lombard 2, Masuku
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Le Roux Malan, 12 Steff Emanuel, 11 Harri Millard, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Tom Manz, 20 Semisi Paea, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Tom Bowen.
Sharks: 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 André Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Manu Tshituka, 6 Matt Romao, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Phatu Ganyane.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Jaco Williams.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (WRU), Carwyn Sion (WRU)
TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)
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