A tenacious, fighting performance from the young Hollywoodbets Sharks XV was a marked improvement on their previous efforts in the Carling Currie Cup but a 7-5 win for the Toyota Cheetahs at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium may have been the death-knell to their trophy hopes.
Nick Hatton’s team desperately needed a win to salve the wounds left by a humiliating 64-0 defeat at the hands of the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus the previous week and their determination and passion was advertised through an excellent defensive performance that prevented the Cheetahs to execute the free-flowing game they are renowned for.
In truth the Cheetahs would have won comfortably if it were not for the stubbornness of the Sharks, particularly in the first half when they were under siege for long periods against a side that enjoyed 68 per cent of the possession and also had an advantage when it came to territory.
Cheetahs captain Victor Sekekete owned up afterwards to his own side’s culpability in their failure to convert pressure into points by lamenting his team’s high error rate in the opposition 22.
The Sharks continue their winless streak in the #CurrieCup 🦈 pic.twitter.com/IEzdvFaBVD
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However, the Sharks did play a role in that by just refusing to give an inch, while Tino Mavesere, skipper Hatton and the impressive South Africa under-20 star Matt Ramao, and later in the game impact sub Coetzee le Roux, played a role in ensuring that the speed with which the visitors recycled the ball from the breakdowns wasn’t what they would have wanted.
A measure of the Cheetahs’ dominance in the first half was the fact that it wasn’t until the near the half hour mark that the Sharks XV was awarded its first penalty.
The Cheetahs had had seven to that point and another one two minutes later made it 8-1 to the Cheetahs in the first 32 minutes.
The Sharks redressed that when they started to have more of the game later on, but the side from Bloemfontein showed when they were under pressure that they too can defend.
Plus lock Ruan Venter was excellent in the lineouts and in his all-round game.
SMART RUGBY
The Cheetahs’ try came in the 15th minute, just after Sharks lock Corne Rahl was yellow carded for repeated infringements on defence by his team.
From the attacking lineout that was set up by the penalty, the Cheetahs drove at the line and after the initial stop it was No 8 Neels Volschenk who drove over for the try.
The Cheetahs had been denied on a few occasions in their close drives for the line immediately before that and again several other times in the match.
The Volschenk try was converted by former Durban schoolboy (Northwood College before going to UCT) Ntokozo Makhaza and that ultimately proved the difference between the teams.
The Sharks’ try came in the 65th minute, with prop Phatu Ganyane capitalising on some rare quick recycled ball from his teammates to drive over for a try in the same corner where Volschenk scored for the Cheetahs in the first half.
However Jean Smith, son of Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith, was unable to convert and it was the Cheetahs who played the smart rugby after that, meaning in the right areas of the field, to close out the win on a night where initially the skill levels were pretty high but where they gradually regressed when the evening dew started to settle on the playing surface.
Smith's brother Franco was influential in the Cheetahs' backline on a night dominated by two physical and well organised defensive systems.
The Cheetahs’ win was their second of the season and they will consider themselves to be up and running for a place in the semifinals but the Sharks had to content themselves with just a solitary losing bonus point.
That point does lift them above DHL Western Province into the second last position but with just four games to come they won’t be fancying their chances of repeating last year’s effort of making the final and winning the trophy.
Scores
Toyota Cheetahs 7 - Try: Neels Volschenk, Conversion: Ntotoko Makhaza.
Hollywoodbets Sharks 5 - Try: Phatu Ganyane.