Injuries add to Sharks' URC misery

URC REPORT: The Sharks’ quest to qualify for a European Champions Cup spot came to an end with a 22-all draw to Munster at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Sharks already sealed a play-off spot in the United Rugby Championship.

However, they concluded the round-robin phase in eighth place courtesy of the draw to Munster.

The result means the Sharks face a challenging trip to Dublin to take on Leinster in the quarterfinal in Dublin, while they failed to qualify for a Champions Cup place.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!

It is certainly heart-breaking for the Durbanites, who were well in control of the match.

They were leading 17-3 at the break, but an error-riddled second-half performance saw them relinquish their lead and settle for a draw.

To make things more concerning for the Sharks, captain Siya Kolisi and flyhalf Curwin Bosch both were forced to leave the field in the first half due to knee injuries.

The Springbok captain Kolisi had to be replaced in the third minute after suffering an injury to his right knee, incurred during a tackle by Calvin Nash.

And  Bosch hobbled off just short of the half-time break.

Once Kolisi had been patched up for an aborted attempt at playing on, a short-range maul allowed Bongi Mbonambi to peel free on the blindside to touch down.

The Sharks added a second when Werner Kok rolled his way over the whitewash but the try was approved by the TMO.

Unperturbed, the Sharks kept on coming with number eight Sikhumbuzo Notshe the next to capitalise on a line-out maul following a strong carry by Mbonambi.

With wing Shane Daly in the sin-bin, Munster were up against it and they entered half-time 3-19 down without firing a shot.

Their outlook soon improved when replacement wing Aphelele Fassi was sin-binned for offside, in the process conceding a penalty try that offered a glimmer of hope.

Munster quickly saw the extra man wiped out when captain Peter O’Mahony was shown a yellow card for escalating a scuffle.

But an opportunist try by Calvin Nash tilted the game on its axis and when Murray went over at the end of a maul for a try converted by Ben Healy, the score was level at 22-22.

Munster poured forward in the closing stages but could not finish the job.

Player of the Match

Given Munster’s fightback and the Sharks’ collapse, picking a player of the match was a tricky call but the outstanding scrummaging of prop Ox Nche got him the nod. Nche was the foundation of the South Africans’ scrum dominance as they harvested a succession of penalties at the set-piece.

Play of the Match

It was the moment that launched Munster’s fightback. Trailing 22-3 early in the second half, they attacked near the left touchline when replacement back Fassi interfered with play from an offside position. As the last defender whose intervention prevented a try, Fassi was show a yellow card and to compound the error, a penalty try was also awarded.

The scorers:

For Sharks:
Tries: Mbonambi, Kok, Notshe
Cons: Bosch, Chamberlain
Pen: Chamberlain

For Munster
Tries: Penalty try, Nash, Murray
Cons: Penalty try does not require conversion, Healy
Pen: Crowley

Yellow cards: Shane Daly (Munster, 28 – high and reckless tackle), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks, 48 – deliberate offside); Peter O’Mahony (Munster, 50 – foul play)

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Henry Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jeandre Labuschagne, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nché.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Carlü Sadie, 19 Reniel Hugo, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Aphelele Fassi.

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Edwin Edogbo, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Keith Earls.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa) & Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

*Additional Source: @URCOfficial