/ 13 October 2007

Lions upset Sharks to enter finals

Like Australia and New Zealand in the World Cup last weekend, the Sharks somehow contrived to squander 30 minutes of total supremacy and then allowed the Golden Lions — who defended like Trojans in the second half — to score three unanswered tries against them and advance to the Currie Cup rugby final.

Almost bordering on the unbelievable for the 27 000-strong crowd, the Sharks slumped to a 19-12 defeat after leading 6-5 at the break.

The Lions appeared to be dead and buried in that frenetic first half, but came back full of fire and brimstone in the second first to contain and then destroy the Sharks’ dangerous back line.

Even when reduced to 14 men, after lock Anton van Zyl received a yellow card for manhandling Sharks scrumhalf Rory Kockott, the Lions showed fight aplenty in the second half and that put an end to the Sharks’ season and Currie Cup hopes for another year.

If anything, the Sharks did lose the game themselves based on their early control and finally fell to an intercept try deep in their own territory. They had also lost a golden opportunity when skipper AJ Venter held the ball 10m out when he had fullback Stefan Terblanche at his shoulder and unmarked. A certain try got away then at a crucial stage when they were 12-9 down.

As it was, the Sharks did all the work, but the Lions claimed the spoils of victory.

The Lions had the initial impact, pinning the Sharks down in their own half, but were pegged back by two penalties against them when in attacking positions. However, once the Sharks gained their composure, they mounted a fierce counter-attack that carried them deep into Lions territory and earned them a penalty shot through scrumhalf Kockott who notched the first three-pointer of the game.

That gave them confidence to play an expansive brand of rugby with the ball thrown about with gay abandon.

And, with Terblanche back in the fold at fullback, these options were greatly enhanced as he skilfully set up wave after wave of back-line involvement behind a pack of forwards that was slowly strangling the life out of the Lions eight.

The speed of the Sharks’ attackers and their slick handling had the Lions moving into a defensive mode, forcing another penalty 20 minutes into the game. Again Kockott was successful for the Sharks to lead 6-0.

There was also an element of surprise in the Sharks’ attacking ploys, and when called upon, their flat-lined defensive marking was top drawer, forcing the Lions into errors.

One could not single out any player in particular, as this was something of a total rugby onslaught by the Sharks in which everyone slotted into a perfectly executed game plan. Only a few knock-ons at crucial stages blotted their copybook rugby pattern in the first half.

The Lions made their first attack of any note since the opening moments deep into this session when they tried a high up-and-under to test the Sharks and later secured an attacking 5m scrum.

Very much against the run of play, the Lions nearly scored as Jaco Pretorius burst through only to have the try disallowed because of a forward pass.

The Sharks then seemed to lose their composure and with a clever grubbed kick by Walter Venter through their defence, Pretorius made up for his earlier disappointment with a finely executed try. The Sharks were let off the hook though when flyhalf Louis Strydom saw his conversion attempt strike the upright and the match was reduced to a one-point difference at 6-5.

The Lions came out for the second half full of self-belief again and were instantly rewarded with a second Jaco Pretorius try after the Sharks defence had got itself into an awful tangle. This time Strydom was successful and the tables had been turned at 12-6.

As in the first half, the Sharks then forced at attacking penalty and Kockott made it three out of three. Kockott was then manhandled off the ball at scrum time that had Lions lock Anton van Zyl duly sin-binned for 10 minutes.

Now it was the Sharks again and a try appeared to have been scored, but play had already been halted by a penalty award to the Natalians — only for another setback to follow. A smart intercept saw the Lions break clear and at the end of the move was wing Jannie Boshoff with Strydom converting and making the gap 10 points at 19-9 with 13 minutes left.

It all ended abruptly. The Lions won an intercept chance deep in their own 22m line and, from the resulting attacking move, Boshoff was able to run away from the defenders and seal the Sharks’ fate with a third try that was duly converted by Strydom was a hard-earned victory. — Sapa