| The sharks BEE our Bulls |
The Sharks justified their first place billing when they edged the Blue Bulls in an intriguing and bizarre
semifinal in Durban on Saturday.
Winning 16-12 the Sharks ensured they will host the Final next week and they can truly claim to be
just winners of a game of Test-match intensity.
It was intriguing for the manner on which the Sharks had to hold off a late Bulls charge and bizarre for
the manner in which the start was delayed.
The kick-off was delayed in the most bizarre fashion by almost 45 minutes, after a swarm of bees
invaded the pitch just before the start. At first the players just stood around and then referee Marius
Jonker disappeared into the tunnel. It was later revealed that the match official was stung a couple of
times.
Eventually a group of staff members from the Sharks attacked the bees with fire extinguishers - with
limited success - as the players eventually left the field and disappeared into the dressing rooms.
They then opted for smoke flares, unleashed by the police, as the insects slowly started to disappear.
When the teams eventually took to the field it was a far more subdued atmosphere than when the
teams first appeared on the pitch.
However, once the proceeding got underway the pace and intensity of the game was world class, the
best example of Currie Cup rugby you could have wished for.
The one blight on the game was that referee Marius Jonker seemed to miss a number of crucial
incidents, also making a couple of very questionable calls.
But that can't take away from the sublime effort by the Sharks, who deserved the win - perhaps by an
even bigger margin.
The other key element of this incredibly exciting game was the Sharks' swarming defence, which
allowed the Bulls very little time or space in which to get their marauding forwards into the game.
Although the rain stayed away at first, it started coming down late in the first half and had a much
bigger influence after the break.
The Sharks were far more controlled and energetic in their start, with the Bulls looking very lethargic
in the opening exchanges.
And with the Sharks controlling possession in the early stages, the Bulls were forced into a defensive
role for most of the first quarter. In fact during the entire first half the Bulls hardly had 20 percent of the
possession.
The Sharks were certainly the quickest out the blocks - claiming the first kick-off and taking the ball
efficiently through 14 phases, before an inside pass from Charl McLeod put Keegan Daniel over for
the first try. Patrick Lambie made it 7-0 after three minutes with his conversion.
And the next scoring opportunity also went to the Sharks, a penalty for going over the top at a tackle -
but Lambie was well wide of the mark.
It didn't help the home team that Springbok JP Pietersen left the field, struggling with a hamstring
niggle that had bothered him before the game.
But it was not till the 20th minute that the Bulls got a real scoring opportunity. With Sharks captain
Stefan Terblanche offside near his own line, Morné Steyn slotted the easy penalty to make it 3-7.
The Sharks continued to dominate the possession stakes and eventually won another attacking
penalty, after the Bulls did not release in the tackle, and Lambie made it 10-3 after half-an-hour.
It took the Bulls another five minutes to get points on the board - a penalty for not rolling away in the
tackle - and Steyn made it 6-10, which is how it stayed till half-time.
The Sharks had another flying start to the second half, a penalty against Victor Matfield being turned
into three points by :Lambie - 13-6 after 43 minutes.
The Bulls had a chance to narrow the gap in the 46th minute, but Steyn's penalty hit the upright and
drifted away. However, he made up for it moments later with a penalty from 40 metres out - 9-13 after
49 minutes.
From the restart the Bulls won a penalty and Pierre Spies took a quick tap instead of taking the three
points - a decision that backfired badly as the Bulls conceded a scrum at a ruck five metres out.
With just over a quarter of the game left to play, the Sharks had a penalty turned around, but Steyn's
shot again bounced off the upright. Again, as the case with an earlier penalty, the Bulls soon won
another penalty and this time Steyn made no mistake - 12-16 with 17 minutes left on the clock.
From then on the Bulls launched a series of intense raids on the Sharks' line, but the men from
Durban held on for a famous win.
Man of the match: The Bulls were overpowered by a fiercely determined Sharks team and all the
candidates come from the home side. There is Willem Albert's physical presence, Ryan Kankowski
with his early endeavours and Jannie du Plessis's high workload. You can also look at scrumhalf
Charl McLeod's great tactical appreciation. However, our award goes to Sharks flyhalf Patrick Lambie
for his calm manner under pressure and the manner in which he fielded that huge bomb right at the
end of the game. On the day he outplayed his more illustrious opponent, Morné Steyn.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Try: Daniel
Con: Lambie
Pens: Lambie 3
For the Blue Bulls:
Pens: Steyn 4
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11
Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan
Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai
Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Jacques Botes, 20
Rory Kockott, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11
Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Dewald
Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy
Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Pierre Spies, 20
Ruan Snyman, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Deon Stegmann.
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Jonathan Kaplan, Christie du Preez
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
From: Rugby365
semifinal in Durban on Saturday.
Winning 16-12 the Sharks ensured they will host the Final next week and they can truly claim to be
just winners of a game of Test-match intensity.
It was intriguing for the manner on which the Sharks had to hold off a late Bulls charge and bizarre for
the manner in which the start was delayed.
The kick-off was delayed in the most bizarre fashion by almost 45 minutes, after a swarm of bees
invaded the pitch just before the start. At first the players just stood around and then referee Marius
Jonker disappeared into the tunnel. It was later revealed that the match official was stung a couple of
times.
Eventually a group of staff members from the Sharks attacked the bees with fire extinguishers - with
limited success - as the players eventually left the field and disappeared into the dressing rooms.
They then opted for smoke flares, unleashed by the police, as the insects slowly started to disappear.
When the teams eventually took to the field it was a far more subdued atmosphere than when the
teams first appeared on the pitch.
However, once the proceeding got underway the pace and intensity of the game was world class, the
best example of Currie Cup rugby you could have wished for.
The one blight on the game was that referee Marius Jonker seemed to miss a number of crucial
incidents, also making a couple of very questionable calls.
But that can't take away from the sublime effort by the Sharks, who deserved the win - perhaps by an
even bigger margin.
The other key element of this incredibly exciting game was the Sharks' swarming defence, which
allowed the Bulls very little time or space in which to get their marauding forwards into the game.
Although the rain stayed away at first, it started coming down late in the first half and had a much
bigger influence after the break.
The Sharks were far more controlled and energetic in their start, with the Bulls looking very lethargic
in the opening exchanges.
And with the Sharks controlling possession in the early stages, the Bulls were forced into a defensive
role for most of the first quarter. In fact during the entire first half the Bulls hardly had 20 percent of the
possession.
The Sharks were certainly the quickest out the blocks - claiming the first kick-off and taking the ball
efficiently through 14 phases, before an inside pass from Charl McLeod put Keegan Daniel over for
the first try. Patrick Lambie made it 7-0 after three minutes with his conversion.
And the next scoring opportunity also went to the Sharks, a penalty for going over the top at a tackle -
but Lambie was well wide of the mark.
It didn't help the home team that Springbok JP Pietersen left the field, struggling with a hamstring
niggle that had bothered him before the game.
But it was not till the 20th minute that the Bulls got a real scoring opportunity. With Sharks captain
Stefan Terblanche offside near his own line, Morné Steyn slotted the easy penalty to make it 3-7.
The Sharks continued to dominate the possession stakes and eventually won another attacking
penalty, after the Bulls did not release in the tackle, and Lambie made it 10-3 after half-an-hour.
It took the Bulls another five minutes to get points on the board - a penalty for not rolling away in the
tackle - and Steyn made it 6-10, which is how it stayed till half-time.
The Sharks had another flying start to the second half, a penalty against Victor Matfield being turned
into three points by :Lambie - 13-6 after 43 minutes.
The Bulls had a chance to narrow the gap in the 46th minute, but Steyn's penalty hit the upright and
drifted away. However, he made up for it moments later with a penalty from 40 metres out - 9-13 after
49 minutes.
From the restart the Bulls won a penalty and Pierre Spies took a quick tap instead of taking the three
points - a decision that backfired badly as the Bulls conceded a scrum at a ruck five metres out.
With just over a quarter of the game left to play, the Sharks had a penalty turned around, but Steyn's
shot again bounced off the upright. Again, as the case with an earlier penalty, the Bulls soon won
another penalty and this time Steyn made no mistake - 12-16 with 17 minutes left on the clock.
From then on the Bulls launched a series of intense raids on the Sharks' line, but the men from
Durban held on for a famous win.
Man of the match: The Bulls were overpowered by a fiercely determined Sharks team and all the
candidates come from the home side. There is Willem Albert's physical presence, Ryan Kankowski
with his early endeavours and Jannie du Plessis's high workload. You can also look at scrumhalf
Charl McLeod's great tactical appreciation. However, our award goes to Sharks flyhalf Patrick Lambie
for his calm manner under pressure and the manner in which he fielded that huge bomb right at the
end of the game. On the day he outplayed his more illustrious opponent, Morné Steyn.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Try: Daniel
Con: Lambie
Pens: Lambie 3
For the Blue Bulls:
Pens: Steyn 4
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12 Andries Strauss, 11
Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Keegan
Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai
Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Jacques Botes, 20
Rory Kockott, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11
Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Dewald
Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy
Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Pierre Spies, 20
Ruan Snyman, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Deon Stegmann.
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Jonathan Kaplan, Christie du Preez
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
From: Rugby365
| 18th October 2010 |
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