Ken Borland

The Cell C Sharks produced the biggest 40 minutes of their season in the second half to beat the Toyota Cheetahs 26-10 at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday and stay ahead of the Bulls in the race for the Vodacom SuperRugby playoffs.

With the Bulls having secured a bonus-point win over the Sunwolves in the previous game, the Sharks were in desperate need of a victory to stay ahead in the race for the third South African qualification place.

The scrum was the biggest talking point of the game, with the Sharks taking an absolute hiding in that department in the first half.

The frustrations boiled over in the 16^th minute as the Sharks lost their captain, Tendai Mtawarira, for 10 minutes, as he was yellow-carded for slapping a Cheetahs player.

The Cheetahs then destroyed the Sharks in a series of scrums, Coenie Oosthuizen being the chief culprit at tighthead for the Sharks, and the visitors were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty try.

But the Cheetahs did, however, manage to get the opening try a few minutes later as wing Raymond Rhule, with space on the outside, stood up fullback Rhyno Smith and dotted down.

With flyhalf Fred Zeilinga’s conversion, the Cheetahs led 7-0, but Sharks flyhalf Garth April cut the deficit to 3-7 with a penalty for a high tackle just two minutes later.

With the Cheetahs scrum being so dominant, they would have expected more reward from that set-piece, but Sharks scrumhalf Michael Claassens is a canny campaigner and he delayed the put-ins as long as he could. He fooled referee Stuart Berry in the 35^th minute, with the Sharks being awarded a free kick for an early engage by the Cheetahs, and it was a pivotal moment as the home side turned a first-half onslaught that saw them barely hanging on into a halftime lead.

Eighthman Philip van der Walt took a quick tap and a long pass out wide from the ruck found JP Pietersen, who cut inside for a top-class power-finish, April’s conversion giving the Sharks a scarcely deserved 10-7 halftime lead.

The Sharks did not make a good start to the second half though as Van der Walt took the kickoff but then dropped the ball, starting a chain reaction that ended with hooker Franco Marais being caught on the wrong side of the ruck and Zeilinga kicking a penalty to level the scores.

But Lourens Adriaanse proved once again that he is like a potent chemical when it comes to scrum time, always causing a reaction, and his introduction as a replacement for Oosthuizen then totally turned around that set-piece.

His first two scrums led to a turnover in the feed and then a penalty, which April kicked. The young flyhalf is known for his dazzling attacking skills, but he was called on to make some vital kicks on Saturday and he was outstanding off the tee, succeeding with all five of his kicks at goal, including two penalties from scrums which put the Sharks 16-10 up.

The Cheetahs must have been surprised to be down at that stage, and they were even more bemused when referee Berry called advantage over on a penalty when, to be fair, the Cheetahs had taken the ball through numerous phases but had not made much ground, and Stefan Ungerer, brought on at scrumhalf just minutes earlier, pounced on an intercept try and couldn’t believe his luck when he went over for the try.

April succeeded with yet another kick to convert (23-10), and a multitude of handling errors by the Cheetahs then allowed the Sharks to seize control.

The Sharks, who have really turned their defence around since the arrival of specialist coach Omar Mouneimne, continued to harangue the Cheetahs and, after centre Andre Esterhuizen had put in a big tackle and stripped the ball off Rhule, followed by Pietersen kicking ahead, flank Keegan Daniel just had to gather the ball and dive over the line, but he knocked on.

But the Sharks regained possession at the lineout, rumbled the driving maul forward and earned another penalty by April to complete the scoring.

And so the final round of fixtures next weekend, with the Sharks hosting the Sunwolves and the Bulls travelling to the Cheetahs, will decide who the third South African franchise in the playoffs will be.

Scorers

Cell C Sharks – Tries: JP Pietersen, Stefan Ungerer. Conversions: Garth April (2). Penalties: April (4).

Toyota Cheetahs – Try: Raymond Rhule. Conversion: Fred Zeilinga. Penalty: Zeilinga.

http://citizen.co.za/1197651/sharks-make-it-count-against-cheetahs/

The Vodacom Bulls overwhelmed the Sunwolves 50-3 in their SuperRugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, running in seven tries without reply, but it was more because of their aggressive defence than any scintillating attacking play that the bonus-point win was recorded.

The Sunwolves had enough of the ball, especially in the second half, to have troubled the Bulls, but the home side, probably playing their last match at Loftus Versfeld this season, were fired up in defence and dominated the gain-line, as well as scrambling well and generally looking eager to make an impression.

The attacking work of the Bulls was by no means bad, but at times there was a lack of fluency and a few mistakes as well.

But it was obviously a pleasing evening for the Bulls as they kept the pressure on the Sharks for the last South African qualifying place, gaining a two-point lead over the KwaZulu-Natalians ahead of their crunch game against the Cheetahs in Durban.

It took the Bulls 12 minutes to break down the defence of the Sunwolves, who were fortunate not to be reduced to 14 men early on when outside centre Derek Carpenter received the benefit of the doubt for a trip and was not yellow-carded.

The Bulls’ efforts to bash away at close quarters were nullified by the Sunwolves spoiling their breakdown ball and tackling bravely, and the opening try eventually came when the Bulls were able to exploit the wide open spaces from deeper out. The Sunwolves cleared their lines with a kick, but Jesse Kriel, whose play at fullback was a breath of fresh air compared to his fettered efforts in midfield, took a quick lineout and wing Jamba Ulengo produced a great run from 58 metres out, beating several defenders and then popping the ball up in the tackle to flank Lappies Labuschagne, who was up in support and able to go over for the try.

Unlike the Bulls, the Sunwolves were able to get points from their first visit to the 22, as flyhalf Yu Tamura kicked a penalty after scrumhalf Piet van Zyl spent too long on the wrong side of a ruck.

Bulls flyhalf Francois Brummer, whose kicking game was sharp, added an 18^th-minute penalty to his earlier conversion and would eventually finish with a five-from-six record with three more conversions.

The Bulls crossed the tryline again in the 21^st minute as Van Zyl detected the space and launched a great counter-attack. Labuschagne was once again up in support and he sent centre Dries Swanepoel over for the try.

Labuschagne was all over the field, linking, tackling and winning turnovers, which suggests his move to Japan after Super Rugby is going to be a major blow for the Bulls. In the 27^th minute, he was stopped just short of the line, but fellow flank Jannes Kirsten was on hand to pick up the ball and drive over the line (24-3).

It was one-way traffic in the first half and the Bulls grabbed a fourth try before the break as the Sunwolves tried to run their way out of the 22 – spurning the big boot of fullback Riaan Viljoen – and the ball went to ground in the backline. Brummer pounced, kicked through and had an easy path to dotting down, his conversion making the halftime score 31-3.

The scent of a real thrashing was in the air early in the second half as Van Zyl went on another jet-propelled dash through the defence, captain Adriaan Strauss finishing the move with a bullocking run.

The Sunwolves were 36-3 down, but they did not run out of gas, to their credit. Surviving on scraps up till then, they certainly stretched the Bulls defence in the second half and coach Nollis Marais will be fuming over the penalty count.

But the Bulls are the team with the best tackling success rate in the competition and they kept the Sunwolves out, before adding the finishing touches to their win with two late tries, both by wing Travis Ismaiel.

The Bulls are a skilful side when they get it right and there were some lovely hands involved in the first try, especially a brilliant, long, flat pass out wide from centre Burger Odendaal to Ismaiel.

The Sunwolves then went back on attack but, to their immense disappointment, a grubber through was tidied up by replacement fullback SP Marais, who then broke through and released Ismaiel on a 55-metre open run-in to the line.

The outstanding work-rate of Labuschagne meant he fully deserved the man of the match award, but the other star players were the eighthman Renaldo Bothma, who was at the forefront of smashing the Sunwolves back, and Van Zyl, who sparked much of the attacking play.

Pierre Schoeman’s first start in the number one jersey was also impressive, showing he can ably stand in during the absence of Trevor Nyakane and Lizo Gqoboka through injury, while the midfield pairing of Swanepoel and Odendaal also rose to the occasion.

Scorers

Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Lappies Labuschagne, Dries Swanepoel, Jannes Kirsten, Francois Brummer, Adriaan Strauss, Travis Ismaiel (2). Conversions: Brummer (4), Tian Schoeman (2). Penalty: Brummer.

Sunwolves – Penalty: Yu Tamura.

http://www.citizen.co.za/1197645/bulls-overwhelm-sunwolves/

The Lions played with superb fluency and confidence, pace and power, to ensure the Sharks would come badly undone on their visit to Johannesburg, the hosts winning their SuperRugby match 37-10 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

After weathering an impressive first five minutes from the Sharks, the Lions were quick to communicate their intention to pick up where they left off before the June international break, their previous result being a similarly superb 56-20 demolition of the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

The Sharks’ bright start withered in the face of some ferocious defending from the Lions and they simply pushed the visitors ever further from the advantage line, bossing the collisions and producing the quick ball that they flourished on, displaying wonderful skills and intensity in the process.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies put the first points on the board with a seventh-minute penalty and the woes began for the Sharks as Paul Jordaan limped off with a knee injury. They had already been forced to make a midfield change when Andre Esterhuizen failed to recover in time from the hamstring strain he picked up during the week, which meant Jordaan was playing inside centre and JP Pietersen shifted to number 13 and S’bura Sithole came on to the wing.

Heimar Williams then came on to replace Jordaan and, with Garth April appearing flustered at flyhalf, the Sharks had a severely disrupted backline, the Esterhuizen/Jordaan combination being one of their strong points this season.

But what was unforgivable was the number of basic mistakes the Sharks made in the first half, starting with scrumhalf Michael Claassens basically bailing out of taking an up-and-under, giving the Lions prime attacking position. Lionel Mapoe produced an incisive run, Jaco Kriel, as ever, was up in support and made the final pass for wing Ruan Combrinck to score the opening try in the 15th minute.

The Sharks were also poor at relieving pressure in their own territory, allowing the Lions to mount relentless attacks because their kicks were often up-and-unders instead of touchfinders, and too often they did not find touch or grass.

The second try came after an up-and-under from the base rather than a lengthy kick to clear the lines, followed by Odwa Ndungane dithering and not claiming a mark that could also have relieved the pressure. Instead the Lions piled on to attack, lock Franco Mostert powered through close to the line and eventually centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg grabbed the ball out of a maul and swiveled over the line.

On the half-hour, the jittery April kicked straight to fullback Andries Coetzee, who launched the attack and Combrinck’s little chip behind the defensive line bounced wickedly for Lwazi Mvovo, again in the north-east corner of Ellis Park, with eighthman Ruan Ackermann gathering and passing to hooker Malcolm Marx to storm over for the third try.

The Sharks were 20-0 down and then butchered the best chance they had to get on the scoreboard when Mvovo’s pace took him clear, but his pass inside to Ndungane was a bit behind the fullback and the veteran dropped the ball with the line clear ahead of him.

While the dazzling attacking play of the Lions backline gets most of the plaudits, their pack is also brilliant and they deserve the credit for the fourth try, scored on the stroke of halftime, as the forwards went on the charge, battering through the advantage line until Ackermann, one of the stars of the show as he stood in for the injured Warren Whiteley, powered over the line with two of his colleagues behind him.

Jantjies’ conversion meant the Lions would go into the break with a commanding 27-0 lead and the problems that bedevilled the Sharks did not go away in the third quarter either.

April produced an awful kick from his own 22 that did not go anywhere but straight up, leading to a penalty slotted by Jantjies, and the ball-hungry Kriel then crashed over the line in a move that again highlighted the pace and power of the Lions forwards.

At 37-0 down with 22 minutes to play, the Sharks were really just chasing pride and their replacements, especially lock Ruan Botha, added some much-needed energy.

The visitors were finally on the board in the 63rd minute, Sithole cutting through the Lions defences and some clean hands by April and replacement fullback Rhyno Smith delivered the ball to Mvovo, who stepped inside and dotted down.

Six minutes later, Botha, who announced his return from long-term injury with a compelling performance in the Ellis Park fortress, soared high to take a lineout and set up the rolling maul, from which another Sharks import, replacement hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, scored.

That made it five tries to two and, if the Sharks had managed to score once more in the last 11 minutes it would have robbed the Lions of a well-deserved bonus point, but Johannesburg’s pride held out to ensure they will top their conference and host the city’s first SuperRugby knockout game since 2001.