Clinical Sharks smash Lions

The rain and soft underfoot made it an impossible task to create a rugby spectacle, but nevertheless the Cell C Sharks were clinical in their execution as they made the most of a muddy patch to beat the Emirates Lions 37-10 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.

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And perhaps the biggest takeaway wasn’t the fact that the Sharks scored four tries for a bonus point and elevated themselves back into sixth spot on the log, but the fact that they were clinical and ruthless at times in conditions they are likely to encounter in the playoffs.

By contrast the Lions looked out of sorts away from the hard highveld pitch they are used to and showed that while they were good enough to stop the overseas invasion at home, the weather and Sharks in Durban were another thing altogether.

It didn’t help the Lions that they lost prop Jannie du Plessis early on to an off-ball shoulder charge that cost him 10 minutes in the bin and them a try in the process.

Du Plessis’s error came just as Gerbrand Grobler went around the corner from a ruck and surged forward to score.

It was followed by Phepsi Buthelezi, whose pace and power put him through to score near the posts and give the hosts an early 14-0 lead.

The conditions made an expansive game impossible, but that didn’t stop the teams from trying to run the ball, often with disastrous results.

The amount of knock ons were predictable, but poor passes from a slippery ball became the norm and for chunks of play it was moving from one error to the next, and hardly doing the game any justice.

Curwin Bosch’s boot - he kicked seven from seven on the night - kept the Sharks on the front foot and at times it seemed the Lions were just holding on, scrambling to keep the ball away from their line.

Bosch added a penalty to make it 17-0, before Jordan Hendrikse put the Lions on the board with a penalty for a halftime 17-3 deficit.

It didn’t take long in the second half for the Sharks to use the conditions to their advantage, and Bongi Mbonambi powered over at the back of a huge rolling maul to give them try No 3.

The fourth try came when they were pounding the Lions’ tryline and Sikhumbuzo Notshe saw an opening and was driven over the line with help to give the team the bonus point.

The Lions’ only real moment of joy came to former Junior Bok and rising talent Henco van Wyk, after Andre Warner saw a massive gap behind the defence and chipped over the line, with Van Wyk sprinting through and grabbing the bouncing ball to score their only try.

It was a moment of joy, but it was one of the few on a night where the Lions were poor and let themselves down, while the Sharks took another step towards the playoffs, and were the contenders they keep telling everyone they are in the URC.

And in the cold, wet and muddy conditions, the clinical nature of their win will give them a lot of confidence, especially if they have to go play abroad in similar conditions.

SCORERS

Cell C Sharks - tries: Gerbrandt Grobler, Phepsi Buthelezi, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4). Penalties: Bosch (3).

Emirates Lions - try: Henco van Wyk. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalty: Hendrikse.