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Sharks survive Dragons fire to win in Newport

football21 January 2024 19:50| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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The Hollywoodbets Sharks took their time to get into the game and get used to the wintry conditions at the Rodney Parade in Newport on Sunday night, but once they clicked into gear there was no stopping them as they pulled away to a 29-9 win over the Dragons in their final EPCR Challenge Cup pool match.

The final 10 minutes of each half were when the Sharks were at their best, with all five of their tries coming during those periods - two in the last 10 minutes of the first half and three in the final 10 minutes when they put a gloss on the end score that looked unlikely for most of the game.

The Sharks were already assured of home ground advantage in their round of 16 game so a win wasn’t an imperative from a competition viewpoint but it was necessary from the viewpoint of them needing to go back to back with victories for the first time in what has been a troubled season for them.

For the first half hour it looked unlikely they’d hit their target.

Playing with a strong wind at their back on an inclement Welsh night, the Sharks struggled to get into the game and instead it was the highly motivated hosts, who had a lot more riding on the game, who had all the early dominance of possession. 

A Cai Evans penalty gave them a 3-0 lead after six minutes and the Welsh team could consider themselves unlucky not to have gone 10-0 ahead a short while later.

Indeed, they were 10-0 up after their flying wing Jared Rosser produced the most spectacular individual effort of the match.

The Dragons had been pressing near the Sharks line when Lukhanyo Am intercepted and the Sharks captain set up a foot race with the Dragons wing by kicking into the Dragons 22.

Rossner won that race and then blitzed his way through the Sharks defenders with his counter-attack and then looked to have won the race to the touchdown.

Alas for the Dragons, the game had been restarted, with Evans having added the conversion, when they were called back by the TMO and the score was disallowed due to a perception, which could be debated, that it hadn’t been dotted down correctly.

CLINICAL FINISHING

Whether or not that would have made any difference to the end result is open to debate, for the Sharks did gain impressive momentum once they got the bit between their teeth around and started to shake off their error rate and indiscipline around the half hour mark.

They trailed 6-0 at that point, after Evans had doubled his team’s score after 20 minutes, which was scant reward for the amount of pressure the Dragons had exerted.

However, while the Sharks defence stood firm when the Dragons were in their 22, the converse was true once the Sharks got into the opposition red zone, and the coaches should have been impressed with how clinical the men from Durban with their finishing.

The first try was dotted down by scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse after 36 minutes, who was one of the visiting team’s most impressive players on the night, following a patient buildup in which the big ball carriers mixed it up with the backs, Ox Nche making perhaps the most decisive carry.

Curwin Bosch kicked the easy conversion to put the Sharks in the lead for the first time, and with four minutes to go to the break, it was a decisive blow against a team that had dominated to that point.

It didn’t end there however, and a bit of deception from a tap penalty five metres from the Dragons line off the last play of the half saw the Sharks forwards gain the momentum that propelled Nche over the line for the try that put his team into a 12-6 halftime lead.

Evans kicked a second-half penalty as the Dragons used the strong wind to pin the Sharks in their territory for much of the second half, and the Dragons still had a much needed win in sight as the last 10 minutes neared.

Indeed, there were just nine minutes left when a big Sharks forward drive put the impressive Gerbrandt Grobler, with the lock gaining in influence with each match he has played since returning from injury for the coastal derby against the Stormers on the second last night of 2023, in for the try that put daylight between the teams for the first time.

The Dragons, needing to win to make it into the round of 16, looked spent after that, with replacement lock Le Roux Roets ending any doubt over who’d win with the bonus point try before Werner Kok added further salt into the Dragons' wounds by chasing down a kick ahead to clinch a 20 point winning margin.

There’s been some talk about the Sharks’ drive and commitment this season, indeed that’s been the case for a few years now, but the way they celebrated at the final whistle suggested this was a result that was very important to them.

They now have a four-week break before returning to Vodacom United Rugby Championship action with a home derby against the DHL Stormers.

SCORERS:

Hollywoodbets Sharks 29

Tries: Jaden Hendrikse, Ox Nche, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets and Werner Kok; Conversions: Curwin Bosch 2

Dragons 9

Penalties: Cai Evans 3

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