Ken Borland

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.

Assupol Tuks finished the group stages of the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals on top of Group 2 on Wednesday as they saw off a determined Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association side by 56 runs at Wormsley Cricket Ground in London.

Tuks will now play the defending champions, Rizvi College of Mumbai, the Indian representatives, in the semi-finals on Saturday at the Oval, while the other semi-final is between the University of New South Wales and the Jamaicans, who finished second in Group 2.

The West Indian representatives in the T20 Varsity World Cup were chasing 179 for victory and, with opener Oraine Williams scoring an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, they reached 83 for two after 12 overs against the hitherto unchallenged University of Pretoria students.

But spinners Aiden Markram and David Mogotlane killed off the uprising, sharing six wickets for just 20 runs in five overs as the Jamaicans collapsed to 122 all out.

A well-judged innings of 76 off 56 balls by Markram had earlier been the foundation of the Tuks innings as they scored 178 for five in their 20 overs after electing to bat first.

SA U19 captain Markram then completed a stellar all-round performance by taking three for 12 in three overs with his off-breaks, while Mogotlane was also outstanding with three for eight in two overs.

Williams ensured the Jamaicans made a fine start to their run-chase, but Mogotlane dismissed him at the end of the 11th over and the last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs in 8.3 overs.

The slow left-armer then picked up the wickets of captain Delbert Gayle (7), to a wonderful return catch, and Kimani Morgan (2) with successive deliveries in the 16^th over to kill off any lingering hopes the West Indians had.

A change of tactics saw Markram bowl the second over of the innings and it bore immediate fruit with Javaughn Buchanan sweeping the fourth ball to backward square-leg.

Markram was the obvious choice for man of the match, but the tall right-hander enjoyed the strong support of the middle-order in the Tuks innings.

The Jamaicans claimed the wickets of Gerry Pike (4) and Theunis de Bruyn (16) inside the first four overs, but Johan Wessels then scored 30 off 26 deliveries as 55 was added for the third wicket in 9.3 overs.

Markram batted through to the final over and quickfire contributions from Heinrich Klaasen (22) and Sean Dickson (19*) ensured the powerful finish Tuks needed to bat the Jamaicans out of the game.

Tuks coach Pierre de Bruyn said his team could not be going into the semi-finals in better shape.

“I’m over the moon with the results, we’ve had two bonus-point wins and all departments have been tested and come up with the goods.

“We had a batting man of the match in the first game [Theunis de Bruyn], a bowler [Corbin Bosch] in the second match and today Aidan’s all-round performance.

‘I was delighted with the way we started, we summed up conditions quickly and although we’ve had some individual brilliance, there’ve been two or three other players contributing greatly in every game,” De Bruyn said.

http://thesportseagle.co.za/cricket/tuks-see-jamaican-uprising/