Tshituka injury concern as Sharks lose to Leinster
MATCH REPORT: The Sharks continued their challenging Europe tour with another United Rugby Championship defeat in Ireland.
The South Africans suffered a 13-34 loss to Leinster in Dublin in Saturday.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!
Dylan Richardson was the solo try-scorer for the Durban-based team, while Curwin Bosch added six points (two penalties) and Boeta Chamberlain two points (conversion) with the boot.
To make things worse the Sharks face a major injury concern as Vincent Tshituka left the field in the 35th minute after sustaining what appears to be a shoulder injury.
For Leinster it was a moral boosting outing as well-taken scores from Jordan Larmour and Deegan steered Leo Cullen’s men into a 12-6 half-time lead.
Bouncing back from last Sunday’s defeat in Glasgow, Leinster secured their bonus point through replacement Rob Russell and Tommy O’Brien, before Russell cancelled out Richardson’s late consolation try.
Two soft enough penalties leaked by Leinster saw fly-half Bosch split the posts twice inside the opening 10 minutes. His second strike was from halfway, but came after Larmour had opened the hosts’ try account for the evening.
The wing’s effort originated from a close-in lineout maul, with Lee Barron going close before Cormac Foley whipped the ball wide for Larmour to register an unconverted score.
The fast-breaking Aphelele Fassi showed how threatening the Sharks can be from deep, only for O’Brien and Charlie Ngatai to force turnover ball.
Leinster began the second quarter with their second try, number eight Deegan driving in low to score with Michael Ala’alatoa on the latch. Harry Byrne’s conversion made it a double-scores lead.
The South Africans were content to see out the first half just six points down, although the loss of flank Vincent Tshituka to an arm/shoulder injury was a considerable blow.
In a double tackle with Ngatai, Leinster hooker Barron’s shoulder made contact with Kerron van Vuuren’s head, prompting a 42nd-minute sin-binning. However, Bosch blundered when kicking the penalty dead.
From there on, Leinster took control. Ngatai’s turnover penalty teed up Byrne to extend the lead to nine points before Jamie Osborne’s 50:22 kick had them hunting a try.
Foley’s neat pass, combined with Jason Jenkins sucking in defenders, put Russell over to the right of the posts. Byrne tagged on the extras to open up a 22-6 advantage.
The Irish province bagged their bonus point in the 65th minute, as industrious winger O’Brien swept over on the right via a pinpoint Sam Prendergast cross-field kick. The young replacement was unable to convert.
The Sharks went close through replacement Boeta Chamberlain before Werner Kok was held up past the try-line by Ciaran Frawley.
The visitors’ reserve hooker Richardson broke off a 79th-minute maul to touch down, only for Fassi to knock on following the restart. Ross Molony nudged the loose ball through for Russell to complete his brace.
Play of the Match
Young replacement half-backs Murphy and Prendergast combined to create Leinster’s bonus-point try. The Academy scrumhalf changed the direction of an attack and Prendergast dinked a lovely kick out for O’Brien to outpace Zee Mkhabela and cut inside the final defender.
Player of the Match
Leinster had a number of candidates on a rainy night, including captain Scott Penny and Ross Molony who both got through a lot of work up front. The Sharks had some decent moments but there were too few, and centurion Deegan’s try-scoring performance earned him the URC player-of-the-match honour.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Deegan, Russell 2, Larmour
Cons: Byrne 2, Prendergast
Pens: Byrne
For Sharks:
Try: Richardson
Con: Chamberlain
Pens: Bosch 2
Yellow card: Lee Barron (Leinster, 42 – high tackle)
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny (captain), 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Donnellan, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Will Connors, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Rob Russell.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khwezi Mona, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 George Cronje, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli
Assistant referees: Joy Neville, Paul Haycock
TMO: Stefano Roscini
*Additional source: URC
