Ken Borland

Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am played his first match for six weeks in the victory over the Bulls last weekend and it was not just his own excellent display which pleased him.

As befits a highly-respected leader, Am was more keen to talk about the impressive team display by the Sharks and how it augurs well as they build for the closing stages of the Currie Cup. The thrilling win over the high-flying Bulls means the Sharks are now just five points behind the log-leaders with a game in hand.

The Sharks have struck top form at the right time for arguably their toughest stretch of matches: they visit the resurgent Lions at Ellis Park this Saturday before going to Bloemfontein to tackle the Free State Cheetahs.

“It was definitely an important result for us, we came back from the bye nice and refreshed and to get the result against the Bulls will be a massive confidence boost going forward. Credit to the impact players who came off the bench and closed the game for us. We’ve been together as a team for a while now and playing for 80 minutes is still a work-on.

“But we managed to do that against the Bulls even though we had a dip early in the second half. We are starting to do the small things right, we are building momentum and slowly getting to where we want to be. We expect another exciting game against the Lions, who we know are a good side that likes to keep possession and move the ball around. They are 100% on the rise and, playing at Ellis Park, we definitely need to bring our A-game,” Am said on Tuesday.

Michael Kumbirai, who stepped up admirably to replace Thomas du Toit at tighthead prop when the Springbok left the field with a rib cartilage injury, was one of those bench players who have waited months to make their impact and he said his Currie Cup debut for the Sharks will be a match he never forgets.

“To make my Currie Cup debut for the Sharks was a special moment and then to get the win, I’ll never forget it. As a pack we stood up to the challenge, although it was a bit disappointing to concede that last scrum penalty, so we’re putting in the work this week to make sure we improve on that. If we can keep the same mentality we’ve had at home for the next three weeks, then I’m sure we can keep winning away as well.

“But the Lions will be just as hungry as us on the weekend, they will definitely be up for it and come at us with lots of tempo. We have to be prepared to work very hard and have good work-rate and they have a really good scrum, the set-piece is a strength of their’s. We’re definitely taking confidence out of the Bulls win, but this is a new week,” Kumbirai said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt paid tribute to his pack for going toe-to-toe with the Bulls and standing their ground as the KwaZulu-Natalians claimed a thrilling 32-29 victory in their Currie Cup match at Kings Park in Durban at the weekend.

The Sharks pack has had its critics this season but against the Bulls they enjoyed parity in the scrums and lineouts – winning a couple of crucial opposition throws in the closing stages – and the breakdowns, an area of strength for the Pretoria side, were fiercely contested.

“I have to give credit to the pack, they were outstanding, and we knew that if we could get parity up front then we could really compete. The character shown by the pack was tremendous, they really stood up and showed what they can do. We’ve worked hard on our breakdown, where Dylan Richardson was outstanding, I can only commend his effort week in and week out.

“And the last time we played the Bulls, at Loftus Versfeld [October], our lineout didn’t function so we also worked very hard on that. Plus I was happy we only conceded two scrum penalties. Getting some experienced personnel back certainly does help, and now we have another very good pack to take on next weekend in the Lions,” Everitt said.

It wasn’t quite a perfect performance by the Sharks – Everitt acknowledged the missed penalty by Morne Steyn that would have held them to a draw, but in terms of effort, one could only give the home side 10/10. While not implying that the Bulls gave anything less than 100%, the Sharks just seemed to have more hunger and determination on the day.

“It was a great performance and a massive improvement over the whole 80 minutes, it took great hunger and determination to win it in the last five minutes. But if you look at the match as a whole, then I think we deserved this one. We’ve built some depth over the last six weeks and it is certainly paying off. We’re hoping to reach peak performance at the right time.

“Winning at home is also really important for us and we’re very happy we’ve maintained our 100% home record. It’s unfortunate that there have been no spectators to see it, but one of our goals this year was to make Kings Park our fortress. Now we go on a mini-tour to Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, but we won three of our four Super Rugby games on tour so that will help with the confidence,” Everitt said.

A phlegmatic Jake White said the Bulls’ loss to the Sharks in Durban at the weekend was hardly a terrible blow to their Currie Cup chances and he still believes his side are sitting pretty in the competition.

The Bulls were pipped 32-29, with Morne Steyn missing a relatively straightforward penalty after the final hooter for the draw, but White is right, his team are still in a strong position. They are five points clear at the top of the log, with matches against Griquas, the Lions and Pumas to come.

The win did a lot for the Sharks, however, who are in second place, with a game in hand over the Bulls. But Western Province and the Lions have played as many matches as the Bulls and are seven and eight points behind respectively.

“This doesn’t change our plan at all, we’ll put the game behind us as a wasted chance, but the margins are so small. It’s a long season and we will learn from it, but I’m very happy where we are. Our destiny is still in our hands and who would have thought that six months ago? What’s important is that we get to January 23 and win the final that day.

“So I’m not worried, we are playing good rugby but we wasted chances today, that will happen with a young squad that has only been together for six months and half of that was in Lockdown. You can see the disappointment in the guy’s faces in the changeroom, you can see losing means a lot to them. Going into halftime 14-9 down it was obviously very pleasing to take the lead, but you’ve got to make sure you get the win at the end of the day,” White said after the Kings Park thriller.

White paid credit to the Sharks for their much-improved display at the breakdown, where they made life much harder for the Bulls compared to when they were hammered 41-14 at Loftus Versfeld in October in Super Rugby Unlocked.

“They slowed down our ball so we couldn’t get much momentum, they had obviously relooked at how they defend at the breakdown, so credit to them. We did not get as much quick ball as in the last game, the Sharks’ breakdown game obviously went up a notch which is why we struggled to get momentum.

“But we can only blame ourselves for losing four balls in our own 22 at the end, twice through not controlling the kickoff properly and we also lost two lineouts. The Sharks stood in our lineout and listened in on our calls, which was amazing to see, but [replacement hooker] Schalk Erasmus has been injured since the Green and Gold game [October 3], so it’s understandable it was difficult for him to find his locks,” White said.

The Sharks versus Bulls Currie Cup match in Durban was a match-up between two of the best flyhalves in the country in Morne Steyn and Curwin Bosch and in the end it came down to two kicks at the death.
Bosch produced a moment of magic, displaying his great vision, as he spotted the Bulls were too narrow in defence after some grinding attacks by the Sharks and put in a superb crosskick for Yaw Penxe to cross for the try that gave the Sharks a 30-29 lead. Bosch then scudded the conversion over to stretch that to 32-29.
The Bulls spent the remaining time piling on the pressure in Sharks’ territory. But the home side defended brilliantly and had a scrum feed after the final hooter. In a dramatic twist, the Bulls pack mounted one last massive effort winning a scrum penalty.
But Steyn, who had been as accomplished as ever during the match, missed the kick for the draw, one he would normally expect to get.
It was a thrilling end to a pulsating game, with the Sharks deserving victory for the tremendous hunger and determination they showed if for nothing else.
The first half was dominated by two absurd yellow cards for accidental head clashes to Sharks centre Marius Louw and then, six minutes later, to Bulls prop Jacques van Rooyen. There was also a kicking battle between the sides, with the Bulls on top at first, before the Sharks held the advantage in the second quarter.
Bosch kicked three penalties before the Sharks claimed the first try as fullback Manie Libbok sniped through a tiny gap and his reverse-flip inside found centre Lukhanyo Am, and he had plenty of space against a Bulls defence that had not set, cruising over for a 14-9 halftime lead.
The Bulls found top gear in the third quarter, scoring tries by flank Marco van Staden, from close range, and by centre Cornal Hendricks, who rounded off an impressive period of play in style.
The Bulls were leading 29-20 and the momentum seemed to have turned. But they made mistakes at the restarts and first replacement hooker Kerron van Vuuren scored from a maul for the Sharks, and then came Bosch’s moment of magic.
Points scorers
Sharks: Tries – Lukhanyo Am, Kerron van Vuuren, Yaw Penxe. Conversion – Curwin Bosch. Penalties – Bosch (5).
Bulls: Tries – Marco van Staden, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions – Morne Steyn (2). Penalties – Steyn (5).