Ken Borland

The Sharks were a dazzling regiment of powerful ball-players in the third quarter, making up for a messy first half, as they beat Connacht 41-21 in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday.

Second-half transformation

The Sharks were their own worst enemies in the first half, their mistakes leading to a 10-21 deficit at the break. But whether it was the magic of fullback Aphelele Fassi or a rocket dispensed in the changeroom by some regimental sergeant-major type during the break, the Sharks were inspired when they came out for the second half.

They scored three tries in the first 14 minutes.

Really strong carries by prop Ox Nche and flank Henco Venter were followed by patient phase play and then Grant Williams, playing as a replacement on the wing, stepped and darted through the defensive line, with centre Marius Louw in support to finish well.

Four minutes later, hooker Bongi Mbonambi muscled over from a ruck following a lineout maul, and then some magnificent running and handling by the Sharks earned a 54^th-minute penalty. The lineout and maul were set and, after a series of pick-and-goes, lock Gerbrandt Grobler burrowed over from close range to put the Sharks 31-21 up.

Get Fassi on the international stage

If there was one player who provided the urgency for the spectacular Sharks’ turnaround, then it was Fassi.

It started with his brilliant 50/22 kick that gave the Sharks the territory for their first try after halftime.

Fassi also played a key role in the next try through his brilliant up-and-under take and then searing break that took him clear into the Connacht 22.

Fassi also produced two probing kicks into the corner that could well have led to tries with kinder bounces of the ball.

The 24-year-old should definitely be in the Springbok squad, if not to be played on the wing then to be groomed as Willie le Roux’s successor.

Hellish first half

The Sharks were horribly untidy in the first half against a Connacht team that were clinical and highly combative in the collisions and breakdown. But they made life more difficult for themselves through poor kicking options, bad handling and slack discipline which saw them concede seven penalties. The halftime score of 21-10 certainly did not lie when it came to who had been the better team, Connacht scoring two tries and flyhalf Conor Fitzgerald kicking three penalties.

Two of those penalties came after the Sharks were caught with their hands in the cookie jar at ruck time and  if coach Sean Everitt tells no fibs then he will acknowledge that the home team did not learn from their mistakes in the first 40 minutes.

Williams and Kok at 13 boosted the Sharks attack

Lukhanyo Am will be back for their next match, but the Sharks’ midfield has been a problem for a while. It is probably no coincidence that their second-half resurgence came with Werner Kok having moved to outside centre to replace the injured Ben Tapuai and livewire scrumhalf Grant Williams coming on at right wing.

Kok just brings more attacking thrust and is wholehearted in defence, if not necessarily a mastermind. Williams has the pace for the wing and a very dangerous step as well.

Hooker Mbonambi and lock Grobler were the other standout players for the Sharks.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Gerbrandt Grobler (2), Marius Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Le Roux Roets. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (5). Penalties: Bosch (2).

Connacht – Tries: Gavin Thornbury, Caolin Blade. Conversion: Conor Fitzgerald. Penalties: Fitzgerald (3).

The facts at the end of the day show that the Bulls scored six tries to two and beat Benetton Treviso 46-29 with a bonus point in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, but they were a sick and sluggish beast in the first half.

Bulls badly off colour in first half

The Bulls did not make a good start to the match as they gave away a soft penalty and then a soft try inside the first dozen minutes to trail 10-0. The impression that this was a sickly Bulls side, their usual confident attitude not being there, as they missed 11 of the 36 tackles they had to make in the first half and were also lethargic at the breakdowns, being turned over five times. That they only trailed 12-16 at halftime was thanks to fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse scoring in the 41^st minute thanks to a lovely long pass out wide by flyhalf Chris Smith.

When the Bulls get gainline dominance they are hard to stop and that’s a fact! Once the Bulls shrugged off their lethargy and started pressurising the gain-line, the Benetton Treviso challenge fell away. Gaining dominance in the collisions had the rub-off effect of sorting out their breakdown problems and the Bulls’ power game also saw them dominate in the scrums, earning penalties for territory, and their maul started to get good traction in the second half as well.

Christmas comes early for Kurt-Lee Arendse

The Bulls also made a sloppy start to the second half, but the advent of the 50^th minute saw fullback Arendse gifted a try as centre Iganacio Brex’s terrible pass went to ground behind his own line and the Bulls’ whippet pounced, racing away from his own 10m line to score.

In the final quarter Arendse then set up the try that sealed the contest with a brilliant counter-attack. Going back into his 22 to field a kick, he beat the first defender and was away; lock Ruan Nortje galloped up in support and he made the final pass to wing Canan Moodie to score.

Mixed afternoon for Chris Smith

Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith struggled with his goalkicking, missing three of his eight shots at goal, including his first two as the home side struggled to get going. But his distribution was fantastic. His change of direction to go blind for flank Cyle Brink to score was a moment of fine vision, helped by hooker Johan Grobbelaar’s burst and Nortje’s deft offload.

Smith and Arendse also combined brilliantly for the crucial score after the halftime hooter.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Cyle Brink, Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Marcell Coetzee, Canan Moodie, Simphiwe Matanzima. Conversions: Chris Smith (3), Morne Steyn (2). Penalties: Smith (2).

Benneton Treviso – Tries: Tommaso Menoncello (2). Conversions: Rhyno Smith (2). Penalties: Smith (5).

It took deep into the second half before the Bulls were able to finally rout a boisterous Zebre Parma side 45-7 in their United Rugby Championship match at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi at the weekend and coach Jake White admitted that his team had suffered from a bit of over-eagerness in the first half.

Several chances went abegging in the first half and it was only thanks to two tries in the last 10 minutes of the first half that the Bulls went into the break 17-7 up.

“In the first 25 minutes we had to find our feet, so we scored 45 points in the last 55 minutes,” White said. “At the beginning there were a few chances we did not finish, but I’m generally quite happy with the way we played.

“It’s not that easy to come here to Parma, not even Munster managed to score more than 34 points here in January and they are one of the great European sides.

“Zebre had also only lost three players to their national side and were relatively unchanged. So there are a lot of positives for us, especially the five points that means we stay in the competition, but we will keep our feet on the ground.

“You’ve got to earn the right to go wide, we went too quickly a couple of times and there were knock-ons. As soon as you become more direct then you create the space out wide,” White said.

While White questioned the small number of times his team was awarded penalties for Zebre being offsides, he did say he was pleased with the tempo of the game allowed by referee Adam Jones.

“The offsides maybe could have been policed better, Zebre would shoot off the line and we got caught a bit, they were coming at us the whole time,” White said.

“But I was very happy with the pace of the game, the tempo was what we need in the URC for us to compete. It was a significant difference to what we’ve been getting at home.

“There was pace on the ball, a much higher ball-in-play time, and that allowed us to keep putting them under pressure with wave-after-wave of attack. The referee managed that well.

“We want to attack, you need to score tries when you’re playing in a whole year long competition. You have to back yourself to put points on the board. To score 45 away from home is the outcome we wanted,” White said.

The Sharks saw off Benetton Treviso comfortably enough, 24-7, in their United Rugby Championship match at the Stadio Monigo on Saturday night, but it was a performance lacking assurance and they only managed to secure the bonus point in the 79^th minute after scoring three tries in the first half.

A diffident, careless second half

Having led 21-0 at halftime, and enjoying 60% of possession and territory, the Sharks were left defending for vast stretches of the second half. Benetton admittedly lifted their intensity in their second half and travel fatigue may have been a factor for the Sharks. But the Springbok-laden visitors lacked direction and fluency in the second half, flyhalf Curwin Bosch not really fulfilling his role as a general.

Am & Fassi’s attacking genius the Sharks’ inlet into the game

The Sharks, despite dominating territory and possession in the first half, battled to break down a well-organised Benetton team. It was the magic produced by outside centre Lukhanyo Am and fullback Aphelele Fassi that provided them with the key incisions.

A wonderful run by Am that saw him knife through a maze of defenders ended with midfield partner Marius Louw stopped just short of the line. But from a five-metre scrum, lock Ruben van Heerden then scored.

The Sharks’ second try, in the 26^th minute, came thanks to Fassi showing superb feet down the left touchline when he did not have much space to work with.

The Sharks’ bonus point try, with just a minute left in the match, was again provided by Am with his long pass out wide to Sbu Nkosi finding the powerful wing outside his man.

More refereeing bad luck

South Africans do tend to blame refereeing for most things going wrong on a rugby field. But our complaints about inconsistent officiating certainly seem justified given the range of baffling decisions being experienced in Europe.

While referee Andrew Brace was excellent overall, he denied the Sharks what became a crucial try in the third quarter, ruling there was separation between the hand and the ball when prop Ox Nche dotted down after great charges by him and fellow front-rower Thomas du Toit. Replay after replay failed to show what the referee had seemingly seen and talked his TMO into accepting.

It was a momentum-shifting call as Benetton then piled on the pressure, leading to Am being yellow-carded and the home side’s only try, scored by lock Carl Wegner from close range.

Credit to Benetton

The Italians have lost most of their side to their national squad and were fielding several academy players and even some drawn from other clubs. Their scrum was particularly hard hit, but put in a gutsy performance, only conceding a couple of penalties. Against such a star-studded team, their hearts were definitely in the contest and Benetton Treviso deserve credit for making the Sharks look ordinary for long stretches.

Scorers

Benetton Treviso: Try – Carl Wegner. Conversion – Tomas Albornoz.

Sharks: Tries – Ruben van Heerden, Aphelele Fassi, Phepsi Buthelezi, Sbu Nkosi. Conversions – Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty – Bosch.