The Sharks produced one of their finest second-half displays in years to defeat the Currie Cup champion Blue Bulls 18-14 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
Down 14-3 at the break, the Sharks managed a feat few sides have achieved before: keeping the Blue Bulls scoreless in the second half while rallying back with three tries of their own to secure the win.
In a game where the ruck and maul law meant little, and offsides were an afterthought for referee Shaun Veldsman, the Bulls were more forceful in the opening exchanges before the Sharks turned the odds their way with some aggressive rucking and used the turnover ball to their advantage, stretching the Bulls wide.
The Bulls were first off the mark when midfielder Ettienne Botha went over blind as they attacked from a 5m lineout. The try came from an excellent break by scrumhalf Heini Adams, who unleashed the speed of Springbok Sevens player Danwell Demas down the middle of the field to force the penalty as the Sharks scrambled back.
The second try came as the Bulls took a tight head on the Sharks line, which was picked up by captain Anton Leonard who offloaded to a flying Adams to pop over the line and score.
But if there were ever a case of two halves, this was it. The Sharks brought on Ruan Pienaar in the second half and suddenly added a lot more latitude to their game.
First they gathered a shoddy kick and took it upfield, sneaking left for Henno Mentz to go over in the corner, before a turnover ball had virtually the same effect as it was spread wide for Brent Russell to score in the same corner.
The third try also came from a turnover, as referee Veldsman missed two knock-ons to allow Adrian Jacobs to poach the ball and feed centre Waylon Murray, who sprinted 30m to score.
The Bulls tried their best to come back, but were thwarted several times by a strong Sharks defence. In the end, they were the masters of their own demise as hooker Adriaan Strauss was red-carded for trampling on Jacques Botes’s head — just as the Bulls maul marched 25m on their way to the Sharks line.
Cheetahs thrash Griffons
The Griffons received a beating in their last qualifying Currie Cup match in the North West stadium on Friday night when they were thrashed 43-0 by the Free State Cheetahs in a game marred by handling errors.
Although Free State put together a ”second team”, they outplayed the Griffons and, when they led 15-0 at the break, it was clear that they came to Welkom with one thing in mind — to pick up five points to finish the qualifying round ahead of Western Province (26) with 27 points.
The Free State forwards played a major role in the victory, but it was the backs who scored four of their six tries.
For the Griffons, Tienie Goosen on the left wing played an excellent match, but his efforts were never going to be good enough to put his team on the scoreboard, and when Innes van Rooyen, outside centre, left the field with an ongoing thigh injury, the Griffons defence fell to pieces.
For the first time in weeks, the Griffons looked as if they had no game plan.
Now they can look forward to playing in the B-section of the Currie Cup, but they will have to address their side’s discipline if they want to make any impact among the bottom six teams.
For the Cheetahs, their captain and lock Boela du Plooy played very good rugby, as did their fullback, Phillip Burger.
Coach Rassie Erasmus also surprised by playing new signing Trevor Leota in the second half. This player will add depth to an already mobile pack in the top-eight competition of the Currie Cup.
Comfortable win for Mighty Elephants
The Eastern Province (EP) Mighty Elephants ran out comfortable 36-17 winners over the SWD Eagles in their Absa Currie Cup rugby match played at the Epru Stadium on Friday night after trailing 10-9 at half-time.
The first half produced very little constructive play, with both sides making far too many basic mistakes.
EP relied on the boot of fullback Justin Peach, who succeeded with three penalties in the first half, while the Eagles replied with a penalty by flyhalf Daniel Philander and a try just before half-time by centre Izak Saayman, which was converted by Philander to give their side a one point lead going into the second half.
The home side, however, completely dominated the second half with excellent running rugby and they were rewarded with tries by flank Sebastian Hilpert, wing Fabian Juries and fullback Justin Peach.
This enabled them to collect maximum points, but it was still not enough to enable them to qualify for the Currie Cup proper ahead of the Boland Cavaliers.
Peach enjoyed a productive match by scoring 23 of his team’s points. — Sapa