/ 3 July 2004

Sharks thrill with second-half recovery

Fourteen thousand spectators rubbed their eyes in disbelief as the Natal Sharks, completely outplayed in the first half, came back from a 6-30 deficit midway through the second half to pip Griquas 33-30 in a pulsating Absa Currie Cup match in Durban on Friday night.

Scrumhalf Craig Davidson slotted a snap drop with minutes remaining to secure a highly improbable victory and a bonus point in the opening Currie Cup match of the season.

The winning points came with just four minutes on the clock from man-of-the-match Davidson, who also scored the first Sharks try in a spectacular four-try burst in 15 minutes — three of them in an amazing five minutes.

Moon madness seemed to prevail as a full moon over the Stadium saw Griqua flyhalf Braam van Straaten miss his only kick at goal in seven attempts with the final strike of the match from a penalty on the far touch line that would have secured a share of the spoils.

Not one person in the stands could have anticipated the flashing second half try-burst after a pretty dismal first session — a solitary Griqua try to prop Rudi du Randt — and 17 points from the boot in an error-strewn untidy display from the home side.

The forwards were hustled and bustled off the ball by a Griqua pack hell-bent on sticking to a basic rugby pattern of dominate up front and look for the back-line opportunities to follow.

It was effective in the extreme, especially when Sharks skipper Shaun Sowerby earned a yellow card from referee Jonathan Kaplan near the end of the first stanza.

With Van Straaten, fullback Bobby Joubert, scrumhalf Josh Fowles and wing Chumani Booi supporting their pack in a lively attacking back division it looked as though Griquas would power their way to a large victory after leading 16-6 at the break.

Griquas then added 14 points in two minutes with spectacular tries to centre Dries Scoltz and Fowles and as far as they were concerned the Sharks, like the AJ Venter saga, were dead and buried in a maze of disbelief.

Venter got back into Springbok contention for the Tri-Nations series and the Sharks rose to the occasion with tries to Davidson, Henno Mentz and Adrian Jacobs after coach Kevin Putt had made several shrewd team changes in the last quarter.

Van Straaten kicked three penalties and three conversions and Barnard two penalties and two conversions but the kick of the match surely belonged to Davidson in the final scheme of things in an astonishing Currie Cup pipe-opener. — Sapa