The Sharks Rugby

Sharks defeat visiting Highlanders

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:29:00 -0600

The Sharks pulled off a wonderfully exciting and certainly moral-boosting 28-16 Vodacom Super Rugby defeat of the visiting Highlanders at Mr Price KINGS PARK on Saturday evening. The Sharks, following their bye, came back a little rusty for this, their 10th game of the campaign, one that resembled more a Test match featuring brutal defense over broken, attacking play. It was no try-scoring spree but it was exciting. The second half in particular. In terms of scoring, it was the Pat Lambie show as he scored every one of his team’s points through a try, conversion and seven penalties in a faultless kicking display, and an overall performance that handed him the Vodacom Man of the Match Award, a decision made without too much difficulty for the adjudicators. The game was played at a furious pace but also physically intimidating with the Highlanders having to make three personnel changes in the opening 15 minutes of the game. But it was, unfortunately, also a very stop-start affair with referee Steve Walsh particularly brutal with any indiscretions at the breakdown, penalizing both sides heavily – The Sharks enjoying the better of that count early on - four penalties to just one as Pat Lambie’s boot gave his side an early lead. However, seven penalties in the opening 20 minutes led to a harsh talking to for both captains to clean up this facet of play, and a further three penalties in the final 20 meant that the half boiled down to the battle of the boot.

Sometimes it’s all about winning ugly and that saying characterized the first half, one where eight penalties (and a further two missed by the Highlanders’ Mike Delaney) were all the two sides could muster in a half that failed to reach any great heights, aside from some big hits from The Sharks and a litany of penalties conceded at the breakdown, both sides battling to get that facet of their game right. A positive to come out of the first 40 minutes was some excellent defense from both sides, but neither attack was able to produce the desire result – a try or two. Pat Lambie stroked over five penalties for a faultless first half kicking display, against the Highlanders’ Delaney’s three, as The Sharks led 15-9 at the break.

The Highlanders were the first try-scorers in the game, winning a line-out in The Sharks 22 and bashing away before sending the ball out wide where the numbers advantage couldn’t but to lead to the try as the visitors took the lead for the first time in the game. The Sharks hammered away and were themselves finally rewarded when some Patrick Lambie magic led to a try he started and finished. He fielded a high ball in his 22, ducked under the outstretched arms of two would-be tacklers, broke, fed Keegan Daniel who also broke the defense, kicked ahead and Lambie was on hand to grubber the ball into the in-goal area and dive onto it to score The Sharks only try of the game. With The Sharks enjoying a 12 point lead, the Highlanders went in search of a bonus point. This, sadly for them, proved elusive as they were twice dispossessed of the ball with The Sharks defending their tryline heroically, with Bismarck du Plessis - of all people - managing to kick a 40m touch-finder. It was an important win and one that hopefully sets them up nicely for a good run of form in the coming weeks ahead of the month-long break during June. “We need to build some momentum from this win, the door is still wide open,” said Keegan Daniel after the game. Paying tribute to the man who scored all the points, The Sharks captain added, “Pat has a great head on his shoulders and I thought our tactical kicking was the difference, I’m proud of the way he controlled the game today. There were probably one or two areas we weren’t clinical enough and we gave away too many penalties and will have to look at that. But overall, very happy with the result.” Pat Lambie, as Man of the Match explained afterwards, “We were expecting some rain tonight, the ball was slippery in the first half but I thought we handled ourselves well out there. We need to string back to back wins, next week is another home game with lots to look forward to in the coming weeks.”

Content credits: The Sharks Rugby news release

Chiefs 18-12 victory over the Sharks

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:15:43 -0600

In a tense Vodacom Super Rugby clash of massive proportions, when both sets of players would have come away knowing they were in battle of attrition, The Chiefs managed to lead from start to finish for a gripping 18-12 victory.

They say defense wins games and for much of the game, it appeared that The Sharks would break through the Chiefs’ defense and force the win. At one stage just one point separated them with The Sharks hammering away, but ultimately, it was not enough and a try at the death just underpinned how dangerous this Chiefs side is proving to be, having not lost since the opening week of the 2012 campaign.

The low score doesn’t do justice to the effort and endeavor from the two sides.

Make no mistake, this game was played at not so much breakneck speed as frenzied close-quarter attack, massive tackles more so than elusive running, although it was spoiled for both sides but some loose handling of the ball with conditions near-perfect, although possibly a bit dewy, something alluded to by captain Keegan Daniel after the game.

The drama was everywhere but on the scoreboard as the players hammered into each other like wrecking balls bashing down a skyscraper, one floor at a time. Finally it was the visitors who broke through the wall with a fortuitous try to flyhalf Aaron Cruden who converted and then followed it up with a penalty as the Chiefs took a 10-nil lead.

The Sharks enjoyed a good period of attack as they forced the Chiefs into tackle after tackle and it appeared that the ploy to tire them was working, with Chiefs bodies littered all over, receiving medical care.

The Sharks had another good attack come to nothing as the clock wore its way towards half-time, but fortunately, advantage had not accrued for an earlier infringement on defense and the Chiefs saw their lead cut to seven points when Patrick Lambie stroked over a penalty as the teams headed for the change-rooms with the visitors leading 10-3.

Lambie doubled The Sharks score with a penalty early in the second half as the lead was cut to just four points and then he stroked over his third minutes later after a wonderful steal and breakout from their 22 to 60m upfield.

There was plenty of urgency from The Sharks as their frustrations played out in their commitment both on attack and defense, hitting the opposition players back in the tackle and driving through them with force on attack as they looked to wear them down and squeeze the life out of them.

Unfortunately, with the one point the difference, they still had to find their way into the Chiefs’ half and hang on to the ball. That, they were unable to do. The Chiefs capped off a successful night when, with the hooter having blown, replacement scrumhalf Augustine Pulu rounded two defenders to score in the corner.

Keegan Daniel, The Sharks captain sad afterwards that there could be no excuses. “We should have been able to hold on to the ball better. We didn’t finish, we played a lot of rugby in the 22, dominated, but just couldn’t convert. We’ll be disappointed with this loss, our consistency let ourselves down again.”

The Sharks take a bonus point out of the match and will enjoy a well-earned break this coming weekend as they take stock of their campaign, now one game into the second half of their pool commitments.

Crowd: 26 723

Scorers:

The Sharks: 12 (3)
Penalties: Patrick Lambie (4)

Chiefs: 18 (10)
Tries: Aaron Cruden, Augustine Pulu
Conversions: Aaron Cruden (1)
Penalties: Aaron Cruden (2)

Mr Price KINGS PARK The Sharks versus Chiefs

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:22:16 -0600

The halfway stage is now over for The Sharks who face one final challenge before their first bye next weekend – the table-topping Chiefs – at Mr Price KINGS PARK on Saturday (5pm kick-off). The Chiefs have lost just once this season – in the opening round – and since then, have picked up six consecutive victories. Their three match overseas tour ends against The Sharks before they return home to play the Hurricanes in Hamilton next weekend, and should they add the scalp of The Sharks to those of the Cheetahs (39-33) and the Western Force (20-12), they will consider this phase of their campaign a right royal success. They boast stalwarts and talent all over the park with one of the most exciting backlines in the tournament, filled with “X-Factor players” as called by Sharks captain Keegan Daniel.

Given the congestion at on the log, a Sharks win plus the four log points they get for their bye would elevate them to 30 or 31 log points, with the Chiefs currently on 31, which adds further spice to this clash.

There really is very little in it for many of the teams, but with everyone above The Sharks on the log already having enjoyed their bye (and the associated four log points), it points to the interesting scenario where The Sharks are likely to move up the log - a win on Saturday would do a wonderful job of providing a springboard for attaining further heights.

“The Chiefs are arguably the best side in the competition at this stage,” explains coach John Plumtree who suggests that the second-placed Stormers are not far behind them, and “although the Stormers are looking good, they don’t have the attacking ability of this Chiefs side.

“The Chiefs haven’t conceded that many points, whereas in the past, they’ve always been a really good attacking side but they also conceded tries. They’ve got tighter with their defence, their setpiece game is operating really well.” This suggests that the Chiefs are becoming a more mature side, a well-coached side.

“The coaches who aren’t short on experience, they have done their homework and have put a really good side together; they’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the tournament,” admits The Sharks coach. “We’ve got to stop them.”

The record shows that the Chiefs have had the better of The Sharks six times over the last decade, with The Sharks coming out victorious four times. Three of those, however, came on local soil, although the Chiefs have the most recent say, a 19-18 win at Mr Price KINGS PARK in 2010.

The Sharks

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:18:00 -0600

There are new sharks boys in the tank! The Shark magazine

More to come soon…

Seeking the complete performance

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:43:25 -0600

The Sharks have a 50% success rate in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby tournament, and consistency is going to be key in the second half of the pool stages if their goals are to be realised. The record stands as lost, lost, won, won, lost, won, lost, won and in order to be a side that can really take their campaign by the scruff of the neck and own it, stringing together a number of successive wins is what is necessary explained coach John Plumtree at his first media briefing at Mr Price KINGS PARK since the team left for their four match overseas tour. “We’ve only strung together two good performances in a row once, so clearly we haven’t established any type of consistency in terms of results and that’s reflecting in our onfield play in terms of our defence and attack,” he pointed out. Winning is a habit and once the ball is rolling, so the victories become ‘easier’ (or teams know how to find ways to win close games). For The Sharks, three of their four losses have been by a heart-breaking seven points or less, suggesting that the bounce of a ball, a missed tackle or an incorrect decision may well have been the difference between one log point and four. This weekend, The Sharks have the opportunity to string back-to-back victories together, playing at home again (where they have not lost this season). But before they accomplish that, some hard work will be done on the training pitch in order to stimulate an all-round great performance. “We haven’t been happy with all areas of our game consistently after each performance” The Sharks coach admitted. “Either our setpiece has let us down when we defended well or our attack was good but not our defence. We’re still looking for that complete performance where can go away and say we had a good day out. “Our lineouts have been good, then poor. On defence, we haven’t found enough consistency with our tackle percentages for where they need to be at Super Rugby level. There’s a fair bit of work to do and we’ll keep working hard.” The Sharks will be making a late call on hooker Bismarck du Plessis who, by the nature of his game, ordinarily will be battered and bruised. He will be given until as late as possible to prove his fitness. “He has a number of minor issues with his body - he has a groin strain which is why we sent him home from tour early, he had a quad strain after the Brumbies game, he’s had problems with his shoulder, so he’s suffered a fair bit of wear and tear. He’s the type of guy who will play through injury, but we eventually said we need to take him out. He ran quite nicely on Tuesday and we’ll consider him for selection on Thursday.” Fortunately, in Craig Burden, The Sharks have an able replacement, scoring two tries in the two games he started for Bismarck on tour, showing that he also has plenty to offer. “Craig is behind one of the best players in the world in that position (Bismarck), but when he got the opportunity he really grabbed it – and good on him – that’s what it’s all about. He certainly showed that he’s more than capable at this level.” But the Chiefs await and this is a Chiefs’ side that is seriously dangerous. Their position at the top of the log lies testament to this. They have scored the second highest number of tries and conceded the fewest and will be confident following their win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last Saturday. “Their players are in really good form,” Plumtree admitted. “In the past, the Chiefs possibly suffered with defensive lapses, but this team has conceded the least number of tries of all the teams in the competition and that’s been an unknown for Chiefs’ sides in the past, they’ve always scored lots of tries but also conceded lots. “But not this team. So they’re pretty confident.”