Ken Borland

The Blue Bulls knocked the stuffing out of Western Province in the first hour as they beat last year’s Currie Cup runners-up 45-26 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night, giving the ball plenty of air as they ran in six tries to start their campaign on a confident – almost arrogant – note.

After a bad start in which flyhalf Tian Schoeman had his clearance from the kickoff charged down, forcing the Bulls to defend five metres from their line, the home side played some breathtaking rugby as they scorched into a 24-0 lead at halftime, which they extended to 38-0 after 54 minutes.

The try-feast began with a high-class try in the 19^th-minute as loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman, who was one of the Bulls’ standout forwards, made a great steal and then scrumhalf Piet van Zyl, who gave quality service throughout, made a tremendous pass out wide to eighthman Arno Botha, the captain going on a storming run before passing back inside for Van Zyl to score.

The Bulls’ second try, 13 minutes later, came from a textbook up-and-under from Van Zyl and a wonderful chase by wing Jamba Ulengo, opposite number Khanyo Ngcukana being counter-rucked off the ball. A swift backline attack led to a Bulls lineout and centre Dries Swanepoel took it quickly, his smart play leading to a ruck, from which impressive lock Jason Jenkins burst through to score.

Another slick backline move created space out wide from the kickoff and lock Marvin Orie galloped over to complete a classy first half for the Blue Bulls.

Pierre Schoeman was again in the thick of things in the loose in the 47^th minute, his tackle winning a scrum for the Bulls, from which debutant wing Jade Stiglingh showed his pace to slice through for the try on a wraparound move with Tian Schoeman.

The home side again found space out wide in the 54^th minute, fullback Bjorn Basson chipping infield for Ulengo to score.

The quality of the game suffered in the last 10 minutes as the Bulls went through the motions and Western Province finally hung on to the ball for long enough to score four tries and earn themselves a bonus point, Basson scoring a late try for the Bulls to have the final say.

Tian Schoeman was excellent with the boot, succeeding with all seven of his kicks at goal.

Scorers

Blue Bulls – Tries: Piet van Zyl, Jason Jenkins, Marvin Orie, Jade Stiglingh, Jamba Ulengo, Bjorn Basson. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (6). Penalty: Schoeman.

Western Province – Tries: Johnny Kotze, Leolin Zas, Huw Jones, Scott van Breda. Conversions: Brandon Thomson (3).

Loose forward Jean Deysel will be leading the Sharks out into battle against the Western Force in their SuperRugby match in Durban on Saturday, the Springbok having made a quicker than expected recovery from an ankle injury.

Although Francois Steyn will be playing – and replaces the resting Pat Lambie at flyhalf – because Sanzar’s appeal against his exoneration on a tip-tackle charge will now only take place on Tuesday, coach Gary Gold felt the captaincy would just be an additional burden on a player who has had a troubled start to the season.

Deysel will be no stranger to the captaincy, having captained the Sharks in numerous Currie Cup games as well as in some SuperRugby encounters.

“The captaincy was an interesting debate, and if Jean hadn’t come through well this week we would have gone with Marco Wentzel as our captain. The other guys in the mix were Frans Steyn and Ryan Kankowski. I am sure Frans will lead the side again at some stage soon, but given the controversy around him this week we felt it was the wrong time to shoulder him with the extra burden of captaincy,” Gold said.

There was advance notification of Lambie, scrumhalf Cobus Reinach and flank Marcell Coetzee being rested this weekend and their replacements are Steyn, who will bring just as much presence to the number 10 jersey, Conrad Hoffman and Deysel.

The powerful Andre Esterhuizen comes in for Steyn at inside centre.

Deysel will be playing blindside flank with Renaldo Bothma shifting to openside.

With so many first-choice players out, the back-up players now have the chance to state their worth.

“Having to make so many changes is challenging, there is no doubt about that, but at the same time it is exciting as we have a lot of depth to our squad and this is a chance for us to see what the players who might not usually get an opportunity do in a big game. This is a chance for us to look at our depth, to assess what we have available,” Gold said.

Team: 15-SP Marais, 14-Odwa Ndungane, 13-JP Pietersen, 12-Andre Esterhuizen, 11-Lwazi Mvovo, 10-Francois Steyn, 9-Conrad Hoffmann, 8-Ryan Kankowski, 7-Jean Deysel, 6-Renaldo Bothma, 5-Marco Wentzel, 4-Mouritz Botha, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Kyle Cooper, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements – 16-Monde Hadebe, 17-Thomas du Toit, 18-Lourens Adriaanse, 19-Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20-Daniel du Preez, 21-Stefan Ungerer, 22-Fred Zeilinga, 23-Waylon Murray.

The Sharks will have to make a change at hooker and appoint a new captain for the next month after Bismarck du Plessis was suspended for four weeks by Sanzar on Sunday for petulantly kicking out at the head of an opponent during the match against the Chiefs at Kings Park.

Du Plessis’ act of gross unsportsmanship came just three minutes after the Chiefs had had their hooker, Hika Elliott, red-carded, and subsequently suspended for one week, for charging into the back of Tendai Mtawarira’s head with his shoulder at a ruck, almost immediately transferring all the pressure back on to the home side.

Matters became even worse for the Sharks when Frans Steyn was red-carded for a dangerous tip-tackle before the half-hour mark and his hearing is set for Monday.

While those two senior players let the side down so badly, the other 13 players on the field rallied magnificently to sneak a 12-11 victory over the Chiefs.

Kyle Cooper and Monde Hadebe are able replacements for Du Plessis in the front row, but the issue of who takes over the captaincy is less clearcut.

Flyhalf Pat Lambie or eighthman Ryan Kankowski would appear to be the frontrunners.

Director of rugby Gary Gold also faces a tough decision once Du Plessis returns to action on April 19 as this is the Springbok’s second incident of foul play at a crucial time this season, following his assault on Victor Matfield in the Sharks’ loss to the Bulls in Pretoria three weeks ago. Does Gold trust that the fiery hooker can mend his ways and remain disciplined under pressure for the sake of his team or does he take firm action against a repeat offender?

The matches that Du Plessis will miss are at home to the Western Force and Crusaders, the visit to Ellis Park to play the Lions and the return fixture against the Bulls in Durban.

The Cell C Sharks ran out of steam in the last quarter as they let slip the opportunity to get their New Zealand tour off to a winning start as they went down 23-18 to the Blues in their Vodacom SuperRugby match at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

The Sharks led 11-10 at the break, despite the Blues thoroughly dominating the first-half possession and territory stats, and the brilliance of Willie le Roux and Paul Jordaan created a try shortly after the restart, giving the visitors an 18-10 lead.

But the home side struck back, claiming a 20-18 lead with a brilliant try by wing Rieko Ioane, although the Sharks had the chances to erase the deficit thereafter. But the lineout imploded, three throws being lost inside the Blues’ 22 and lock Etienne Oosthuizen conceded a crucial ruck penalty in front of the opposition poles as well.

The opening stages of the match were marked by the Sharks’ lack of ball-retention skills: The Blues would hang on to the ball for phase after phase and, although they were sometimes way too lateral, their attacks were dangerous and they looked the much more likely team to score first.

A penalty by flyhalf Ihaia West was early reward for the Blues but, astonishingly, it was the Sharks who scored the opening try, on their first visit to the opposition 22.

It started with a fine turnover by flank Jean-Luc du Preez, but it was the appreciation-of-space skill of fullback Willie le Roux that made the try, his chip finding the Blues defence in disarray. Flyhalf Joe Pietersen gathered the bouncing ball and, from the resulting ruck, the power of Tendai Mtawarira was enough for him to barrel over the line.

Six minutes later, the scrummaging prowess of Mtawarira was to the fore as the Sharks won a set-piece penalty, which Pietersen slotted to give them an 8-3 lead.

Pietersen kicked a second penalty in the 33^rd minute, after scrumhalf Cobus Reinach had pounced on a loose ball inside his own 22, hacked ahead and was taken out in the chase, but it was obvious that the Sharks defence was under pressure just given the sheer number of tackles they had to make.

Four minutes before the break, the Blues attacked from a lineout on the Sharks’ 22 and West twice just failed to find the tryline before centre George Moala, who came on when the dangerous and experienced Rene Ranger limped off with a knee injury, dotted down from a ruck a metre short.

West landed the conversion to make it a one-point game (10-11) at halftime.

Even though his kicking game is still in need of plenty of work, Le Roux is a potent threat with ball in hand as he showed in the 42^nd minute. Getting the ball at first-receiver, he burst through a half-gap and outside centre Jordaan was perfectly-placed on his shoulder to take the pass and show great pace to finish the try.

Pietersen converted and the Sharks were 18-10 up. But this is a young Sharks side and, unfortunately, their composure faltered badly in the final quarter.

West, who is an enigmatic general for the Blues, sliced one penalty wide but then succeeded with his 56^th-minute effort to close the gap to 13-18.

There are some top-class runners of the ball in the Blues backline and, when West anticipated well to field a clearing kick by wing Lwazi Mvovo, those players were brought into the game.

Wing Ioane managed to get around a tiring Mtawarira in the first line of defence and roared away for a superb individual try, West’s conversion giving the Blues a two-point lead.

The Sharks went straight into the Blues’ 22 from the kickoff, but Oosthuizen gave away a soft penalty at the ruck and a total meltdown in the lineout followed. A penalty by West just before the final whistle, referee Jaco Peyper making a harsh offsides call on Oosthuizen when he went for the halfback, sealed the Sharks’ fate.

There were many bright moments for the Sharks – the scrums were good and lock Stephan Lewies gave a fine all-round performance, the poor throwing by the hookers being the major problem with the lineout in the closing stages.

The loose trio of the two Du Preez brothers and Philip van der Walt was outstanding, while Le Roux and Jordaan showed that there is attacking skill in this Sharks side, given the right platform.

But with their winless streak now stretching to four matches and games against the Highlanders, Chiefs and Hurricanes (back at home) to come, even the most optimistic of Sharks supporters will now be stum.

Scorers

Blues – Tries: George Moala, Rieko Ioane. Conversions: Ihaia West (2). Penalties: West (3).

Sharks – Tries: Tendai Mtawarira, Paul Jordaan. Conversion: Joe Pietersen. Penalties: Pietersen (2).

http://www.citizen.co.za/1077253/sharks-run-out-of-steam-in-the-final-quarter/