No one among the stunned crowd of 26 000 spectators at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday night could have expected such a bad start for the beleaguered Sharks in their Super 12 rugby match against the Highlanders from New Zealand as they reeled back from three hammer blows within the first 11 minutes.
In that spell, the speedy Highlanders scored three spectacular tries on their way to an imposing 43-7 victory as the Sharks, again rocked by major pre-match injuries, were run ragged by fullback Ben Blair (two tries in two minutes) and scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan.
Blair went on to score three tries in all as his pace on the run was simply devastating and worth a track gold medal, had this been an athletics meeting. He also kicked five conversions and a penalty.
And if that was not enough, centre Seilala Mapusua shook off a whole series of attempted tackles — almost like a puppy dog with a ragged doll — to secure the bonus point after no more than 20 minutes. Blair did the necessary with the boot. It was simply no race at this stage.
So, with four Super 12 defeats in a row, the Sharks’ season in this competition — with the game against the Brumbies and the trip down under to follow — is surely over and the gamble of signing unheralded players for such a skilful competition can only be deemed to be a massive failure.
On the night, the Sharks were outgunned by a battle-wise Highlanders outfit that had the measure of the home side in every aspect of the game of rugby tactics and sheer know-how.
When the Sharks did manage to show a spark of inspiration, they promptly ruined it by another round of simple errors, such as failing to hold their passes or choosing options that led them straight into the arms of awaiting Highlander tacklers.
The offside trap also cost them dearly. Fortunately, Blair missed a couple of kicks along the way but it really did not matter in the long term.
That first half was awful and once again the Sharks came in for scathing comments from their loyal supporters. In the end, it was a matter of the Highlanders scoring goals, a try and a penalty goal to a goal by the Sharks.
The second half began almost as unproductive as the first for the Sharks as the Highlanders mounted a powerful defence to force even more errors. But at last there was some reward as Charl van Rensburg got a consolation try for the Sharks, with Herkie Kruger adding the conversion points.
However, within moments Blair raced away from the opposition for his third try and another conversion to negate Van Rensburg’s effort. The Sharks were not short of effort but that was where it ended. The Highlanders simply played no-frills, hard, basic rugby without being extended.
In one incident, hooker and skipper Anton Oliver got a trifle over-robust but referee Matt Goddard of Australia did not see fit to show a yellow card to the All Black after having consulted his line judges.
Blair rubbed things in for the Sharks when the Highlanders fullback opted to take a penalty shot that made it 38-7 with 14 minutes left on the clock. Then, almost on the stroke of time, lock James Ryan had a gap as wide as the Pacific Ocean in which to canter over for a sixth try.
Mercifully for the Durban faithful, time eventually ran out on yet another Sharks nightmare.
It seems indeed that this season the Absa Stadium has become South Africa’s equivalent of the Dunedin ”House of Pain” — but for very different reasons. — Sapa