Ken Borland

The Sharks produced a clinical performance replete with seven tries as they thumped the Pumas 45-10 in their Currie Cup opener at Kings Park in Durban on Friday night, sticking to their tried and tested game-plan of exerting pressure through the kicking game.

The error-prone Pumas had their moments, but made too many mistakes with ball in hand and really struggled against the Sharks’ aerial bombardment, allowing the home side to set up camp in their territory.

While the Sharks using their kicking game has become the norm, what was most impressive about their performance on Friday night was the swarming, all-consuming defence that accompanied it. The Sharks players were so quick off their line, and they harried and hassled the Pumas throughout, which was the main reason for the number of errors made by the visitors.

The tone was set in the ninth minute when centre Jeremy Ward charged down a sluggish clearing kick by fullback Devon Williams and dotted down the loose ball for the opening try. Ward grabbed a brace of tries before halftime with a similarly opportunistic effort in the 23rd minute when tremendous defensive pressure – flank Dylan Richardson putting in a ferocious double tackle – resulted in the Pumas dropping the ball on their own line, the Sharks captain pouncing to put them 19-0 up.

A couple more maul tries gave the Sharks the security of a 31-3 lead at halftime and, even though their game was not as assured in the second half, their set-pieces letting them down, the win was never in question.

It’s also safe to say Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi is back firing on all cylinders as he scored two dazzling tries as a second-half substitute.

Nkosi scored with his first touch in the 53rd minute when he claimed the restart after the Pumas’ only try, by flank Phumzile Maqondwana from close range, and blazed through the defences to score. He then closed the scoring with an intercept try after the Sharks had conceded a scrum penalty, impressing with his sheer pace.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Jeremy Ward (2), Sanele Nohamba, Kerron van Vuuren, Dylan Richardson, Sbu Nkosi (2). Conversions – Curwin Bosch (5).

Pumas: Try – Phumzile Maqondwana. Conversion – Ginter Smuts. Penalty –Smuts.

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said he was terribly disappointed by their narrow defeat to the Sharks in Durban but proud of his team for the character they showed and the big improvement in competitiveness compared to their dismal start to the year.

The Lions went down 16-19 to the Sharks in their opening Super Rugby Unlocked match, but they turned down a penalty that could have given them a draw to rather go for a win, only to be penalised at a five-metre scrum after the hooter. But having won just one of their six games in the regular Super Rugby season, to then push the form side in South Africa all the way to the end was heartening, especially after a poor start in which the Sharks led 13-0 after half-an-hour.

“Obviously we’re bitterly disappointed to lose, but the character and fight for the whole 80 minutes the guys showed was unbelievable. So I’m happy with the effort but sad about the result. The Sharks obviously started well and put us under pressure, but we had a bit of hope and momentum going into the second half, we felt that shift.

“Being direct had started to work and the Sharks live on turnovers so that’s what we wanted to negate. So there were a lot of positives, especially the good fight and character the guys showed for 80 minutes, and a lot of individuals put up their hands. We want to challenge the players to adapt to different opponents and we had a specific plan for tonight,” Van Rooyen said after the game.

Lions captain Elton Jantjies also pointed to the big improvement in performance by the side.

“Tonight was probably a 7/10 for us in terms of performance, and that’s coming from a 3/10. So we will just keep training hard and believe, to only lose by three points here shows that we are doing the right things,” Jantjies said.

Neither Van Rooyen nor Jantjies were throwing their toys out of the pram over the final penalty at the scrum that cost the Lions. The Sharks had been under pressure for most of the game in that set-piece, but had also won a couple of penalties earlier in the match.

“The Sharks obviously have a quality front row and I felt we handled them adequately. Obviously there are one or two scrums we will look at again, but generally I felt the scrums went well. The scrum was a good battle, some of them we dominated, but there’s still a bit for us to work on,” Van Rooyen said.

“Both sides had opportunities to win the game and we scored one try each. I had a penalty against the posts, but that happens in rugby. There were other moments at the set-piece that were crucial as well,” Jantjies said.

With the Lions springing a surprise by employing the battering ram services of Burger Odendaal at outside centre, forming a bulky midfield pairing with Dan Kriel, much attention was focused on the Sharks’ selection on Wednesday and who they will play in the No.12 jersey when they meet the Gauteng side in Durban on Friday night.

With captain Lukhanyo Am assured of his outside centre spot, Sharks coach Sean Everitt has gone for the stockier option at No.12, preferring Marius Louw to Jeremy Ward. Although Louw is six centimetres shorter than Ward at 1.81m, he weighs eight kilogrammes more at 94kg. Of course neither Louw nor Ward have the physical presence of the Sharks’ long-time inside centre Andre Esterhuizen, the 110kg Springbok who has joined English club Harlequins, but they both have much to add, with Ward warming the bench on Friday night.

“The competition between Marius and Jeremy is always close and we had lengthy selection discussions about it. We just felt that when Marius came on against the Bulls on SuperFan Saturday he played particularly well and brought a lot of energy. But they are both very good players and leaders, and Marius just pipped Jeremy this week.

“Playing Odendaal at 13 means the Lions will have a big centre combination with Kriel at 12. We’re expecting something different from them, they may have moved away from their DNA a bit, away from continuity and ball-in-hand rugby a bit,” Everitt said.

Facing off against Odendaal as his direct opponent and not seeing him at inside centre is also going to be different for Am, who locked horns with the new Lions signing many times while he was up the road at the Bulls.

“I’ve never gone head-to-head with Burger but I have huge respect for him having played against him several times. He will bring experience and leadership to the Lions, and probably the same game he had at the Bulls – he takes on defenders and he carries the ball pretty hard. That’s what I expect from him, the Lions have quite a big centre pairing now and we expect a physical battle,” Am said.

Springbok Sevens star Werner Kok, making his official Sharks debut, has been paired with veteran JP Pietersen as the wings, with Madosh Tambwe expected to be fit for their next Super Rugby Unlocked game, away at the Bulls after next week’s bye, and Yaw Penje, signed on a short-term contract, still assimilating into the squad.

Ox Nche forms a powerful propping partnership with World Cup winner Thomas du Toit, and Everitt said he is really happy with the improvement shown in the Sharks’ scrummaging since the start of the year.

“Their great form really started early on in Super Rugby. We had a few issues at the start of the year in our scrum and there were plenty of critics. But since then the scrum has gone from strength to strength. I thought they stood up well against the Bulls two weeks ago and Ox and Thomas carried that through to last weekend’s Green and Gold game. Ox getting one over Ruan Dreyer of the Lions last weekend will add some spice to Friday night and it will be an interesting battle,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Manie Libbok, JP Pietersen, Lukhanyo Am, Marius Louw, Werner Kok, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Sikumbuzo Notshe, Phendulani Buthelezi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Dylan Richardson, Ox Nche. Replacements – Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, John-Hubert Meyer, JJ van der Mescht, Mpilo Gumede, Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Thaakir Abrahams.

The Lions are famous for the high tempo of their play, but Sharks openside flank James Venter has the gas to make their lives difficult when they restart competitive rugby in South Africa with their Super Rugby Unlocked clash at Kings Park on Durban on Friday night.

Venter, a former Lions player, said the new areas of focus in refereeing the breakdowns also favour the defender getting there first, so he is excited about the impact he could have in ensuring the Sharks have the momentum and the Lions do not. Momentum was what the Sharks most obviously lacked in their SuperFan Saturday warm-up against the Bulls, but Venter did not play in that game because he was still recovering from a concussion.

“We have a referee that’s part of our training and we’ve been working closely with him. The new interpretations really favour the fetcher staying on his feet, so it’s about setting hard and quickly. I know I have a big role to play and I’m excited about that. The forward pack as a whole has a big role to play and we need to assert ourselves early on, we know that’s our job.

“The Lions love to play, they love to play running rugby, they have a running, expansive style. But sometimes the conditions can be wet in Durban and the ball doesn’t bounce your way, and you can’t play the running game. So if we front up physically and do what we do well, then they will find it tough,” Venter said on Tuesday.

And denying the Lions that momentum up front will also make it harder for their key man, Elton Jantjies, to dominate proceedings.

“We’ve looked at the Lions depth and the games we’ve had against them recently and Elton is obviously the leader and controls their game at flyhalf. That’s where a lot of their strengths lie, so we’re going to concentrate on our efforts to try and nullify or control his abilities,” the exciting Venter, who will no doubt be at the forefront of closing down the Springbok pivot’s time and space, added.

The Sharks lost badly in that warm-up game against the Bulls, trailing 35-0 after just half-an-hour before rallying to eventually go down 49-28. Having been the form team in South African rugby before action was ended by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was embarrassing, but a valuable wake-up call before the serious games start.

“We took the Bulls warm-up in our stride and we learnt a lot. Now the camp is really excited to bounce back and the vibe is great. We learnt that rugby is an 80-minute game and if you start slowly then it’s really hard to catch up. Intensity is what we thrive on and we mustn’t lose accuracy either. In pre-season it all looked really good and we executed well, but the Bulls game was like a punch in the face,” the 24-year-old Venter said.