Sharks stumble in poor draw with Dragons
MATCH REPORT: There will be more question marks around the Sharks after they stumbled to a 17-all draw with the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship Round Two clash in Newport on Friday.
The match was played in pouring rain with strong wind gusts, and the Sharks could not take advantage of their dominance up front against a team that had lost their previous 18 matches.
Instead, the Durban side were hanging on for the draw as the home side threatened to snatch victory at the death before a knock-on ended play near the visitors’ tryline.
Another worrying factor is that John Plumtree’s side failed to score a point in the second half after going into the break 17-14 ahead.
It will only get tougher for them as they will face Leinster in Dublin next weekend.
The Sharks dominated play in the opening minutes with their forwards, and they opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Bok lock Marvin Orie powered over for a try.
However, the home side had their fans on their feet in the 15th minute when Aaron Wainwright burst through a gap to sprint away for his team’s first five-pointer.
The visitors regained the lead 19th minute with a three-pointer from Jean Smith, but it was short-lived.
The Dragons hit back in the 26th minute when centre Joe Westwood crashed through the Sharks’ defence in the midfield before feeding the ball to Angus O’Brien, who scored the try.
With the weather getting worse, the Sharks kept things tight with their forwards again, and after a couple of pick-and-goes, captain Vincent Tshituka found his way to the tryline in the 38th minute.
The Dragons thought they had the perfect start to the second half when wing Rio Dyer went over the Sharks’ tryline in the corner. However, the TMO spotted a knock-on in the build-up.
After holding off the Sharks’ and their powerful scrum, the Dragons levelled the scores in the 66th minute with a penalty goal from Tinus de Beer.
However, that scrum dominance eventually led to a yellow card for Dragons’ Chris Coleman for repeated infringements in the 73rd minute.
Both teams had the opportunity to snatch a winning score in the dying minutes, but it was the home side who had the best chance.
With time up on the clock, they hammered away deep inside the Sharks’ 22 for multiple phases before a knock-on on near the tryline ended play in the 85th minute.
Man of the match: The award goes to Dragons loose forward Aaron Wainwright, who stood up to the fight in the physical exchanges, and he scored one of his team’s two tries
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Wainwright, O’Brien
Cons: De Beer 2
Pen: De Beer
For Sharks:
Tries: Orie, V Tshituka
Cons: Smith 2
Pen: Smith
Yellow card: Chris Coleman (Dragons, 73′ – repeated scrum infringements)
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (co-captain), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harrison Keddie, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ben Carter (co-captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Rob Hunt, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Wyn Jones.
Replacements: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Che Hope, 22 Fine Inisi, 23 Huw Anderson.
Sharks: 15 Edwill van der Merwe, 14 Phiko Sobahle, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Christie Grobbelaar, 10 Jean Smith, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 7 Manu Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Bathobele Hlekani, 20 Nick Hatton, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Francois Venter, 23 Hakeem Kunene
Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Lucas Yendle (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
