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Sharks make statement by beating the champs

rugby19 October 2024 16:20
By:Gavin Rich
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The Hollywoodbets Sharks made it a happy homecoming for them as they beat Glasgow Warriors 28-24 in their fifth-round Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash in front of an appreciative Hollywoodbets Kings Park crowd on Saturday evening.

After they’d been so badly beaten by Benetton in Treviso the previous week, Sharks coach John Plumtree desperately needed his team to fire in their first home match of the season. With two defeats in three starts on tour, the pressure was on, and the game was slow to get going, but once the Sharks picked up some momentum, they sent out an indication that they will challenge the top teams in a competition they bombed in last season.

However, though he would be pleased with the win, Plumtree might have felt a bit flat at the end as his team allowed the visitors to strike with two late tries that meant they left Durban with something from a game they were well out of with five minutes to go. The two late tries took the Glasgow tally to four, meaning a try-scoring bonus point, and they also got one for losing by less than seven.

It is imperative for a team challenging for a championship to ensure that they shut out the teams that are likely to push them for a primary position on the final log when the opportunity arises, and the Sharks could have done that here. After they scored their third try, it was Eben Etzebeth’s men who were pressing for a try-scoring bonus point which would have meant they ended with five points and Glasgow nothing.

GLASGOW COMPETE IN EVERY AREA

Glasgow, who beat the Vodacom Bulls to win the title last season, didn’t make it easy for the Sharks in any sense, and they competed in every area of the game. Although it was the Sharks who were awarded the first scrum penalty, the visitors gave the Springbok-laden Sharks scrum some problems early on. They also made the most of their first-half scoring opportunities.

However, the Sharks were never really troubled once they took the lead in the 27th minute, and while Glasgow hung in within a score until the 66th minute when Jordan Hendrikse kicked a penalty to put his team nine points clear at the same time that a yellow card was shown to Glasgow reserve lock Brown for an illegal tackle.

With the score 21-12 to the Sharks, a kick ahead sat up perfectly for reserve scrumhalf Grant Williams and his converted try effectively made it game, set and match as the hosts went 16 points clear. Well, game, set and match in terms of the match result, but Franco Smith’s men still had something left in the tank as they scored a good maul try with less than a minute to go when the conversion was missed and then a spectacular counter-attacking try in the left-hand corner.

Those unnecessary log points conceded by the Sharks could come back to bite them if later in the season they Scottish team make that the difference between them qualifying in the top four and the Sharks qualifying in the top four.

Not that Plumtree should be too concerned about that right now, for after the big loss in Treviso, and considering this game was against the champions, being on the right side of the result was the most important thing.


FASSI THE STANDOUT

All of the returning Sharks Springboks showed up well in patches, with skipper Etzebeth prominent as a carrier and Siya Kolisi marked his return to Sharks colours with the first try of the game. But it was fullback Aphelele Fassi who deservedly walked away with the man of the match award after the Bok No 15 produced a commanding performance both on attack and defence.

Jordan Hendrikse got his first URC points for the Sharks in a home game when he kicked a penalty from 42 metres in the 11th minute. He missed one later and there were a few mistakes in his game but generally, Hendrikse transitioned well back to flyhalf, where he has earned his solitary Bok cap, from fullback.

Glasgow scrumhalf George Horn scored the first try of the game as Glasgow created space going to the left and a three-on-one situation and the Sharks just ran out of tacklers. When Horn converted his own try it was 7-3 to Glasgow.
That was the last time Glasgow led in the game, with the Sharks taking a lead they would never relinquish in the 27th minute when from a lineout set up by a penalty the ball was hit up a few times before Kolisi found the space to swivel through a tackler and reach over for the try.

A few minutes later the Sharks were back on the attack and this time, Fassi’s quick thinking paid off as he took a tap and barrelled over for a try that put the Sharks 15-7 ahead.

Glasgow though weren’t finished and a great cross-kick inside from the left wing sent in Horn for his second try and a warning to the Sharks that they needed to be wary of the visiting team’s attacking ability.

SCORES

Hollywoodbets Sharks 28 - Tries: Siya Kolisi, Aphelele Fassi and Grant Williams; Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse 2; Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse 3.

Glasgow Warriors 24 - Tries: George Horn 2, Rory Darge and Johnny Matthews; Conversions: George Horn and Adam Hastings.

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