FULL-TIME, SHARKS 24-25 BENETTON. A wonderful evening of rugby, some great attacking play and defence. An incredible fightback from Benetton to keep themselves alive in the tournament. A great evening of rugby… thanks for sharing it with us!
Sharks drive up the right, passing well… but there's a loose pass and it bounces out of play… and there's the final whistle!
CONVERSION, BENETTON, UMAGA! 24-25; Great courage from Umaga… not a difficult conversion, but it required a good, solid kick and Umaga brought it to take a one-point lead with 90 seconds to go.
TRY, BENETTON, UMAGA! 24-23; Brilliant running of the ball from Benetton, making advantage of the man overlap… Benetton draw their man and Umaga dives over for the score. One point in it and a conversion to come from 10m to the right of the posts…
RED CARD, SHARKS, KOSTER. He goes in low and hard and there is direct and dangerous head contact on Marin… not much discussion needed to confirm the colour of the card!
Sharks to feed the scrum just inside the Benetton half… it's slung along the line but Benetton break the play down.
PENALTY, BENETTON, UMAGA! 24-18; Umaga slots his penalty with ease. Won't get many much easier.
PENALTY! Benetton awarded a penalty in front of poles and about 7m in front of the Sharks' 10m… very reachable…
Benetton pressing and pushing, looking for gaps, but the Sharks are holding them back superbly.
Benetton with the scrum 5m… Benetton run it, but it's intercepted and kicked forward by Mapimpi, but the ball just doesn't bounce right for him, otherwise he would have been on a sprint for the line they he probably would have won.
CLOSE! Mistake at the back with the ball bobbling in the in-goal area, and suddenly Mapimpi dives back to dot it down as Dewaldt Duvenage slides in… onfield it looks like a try, but after a lot of looks the TMO and ref rule NO TRY. So close though - the Sharks caught a break there.
BRILLIANT play from Benetton, spinning the ball down the line and then a long pass find Mendy near the touchline, and he's open, he's in the clear, he races over the touchline but it's called forward. Difficult shout.
Benetton press forward but the Sharks clear the danger.
POST AGAIN! Masuku's conversion attempt from the right touchline rebounds off the far right upright… so frustrating for the Sharks!
TRY, SHARKS, KOK! 24-15; Kok slides over the line, gripped by two Benettonians… and it's a TRY! Super team passing… but what great attacking there from Kok!
Sharks kick from the back of the scrum to a second time, this time Fassi doing brilliantly to run forward and compete for the ball… the ball is passed right then worked left… and then back right, it's passed out to Kok who gets it on the wing, dips inside and then drives for the line with two defenders hanging onto him…
Scrum inside the Benetton half…
Sharks with good work driving forward and forcing the visitors back into their own half.
CONVERSION, SHARKS, MASUKU! 19-15; Masuku slots the conversions without a problem.
TRY, SHARKS, KOK! 17-15; Sharks run the ball and it gets to Kok 20m in from the touchline, he rounds a man, pulls inside through a tackle, brushes off another tackle and then lurches forward, landing short of the line with an opponent trying to pull him back by the foot, but the Sharks winger lunges forward with his right arm to shoot the ball forward so that he can do it down JUST over the line. An incredible piece of individual skill.
CONVERSION, BENETTON, MARIN! 12-15; 17m to the left of the poles… he has a team-mate keep a finger on the ball as the wind if making it difficult… but he slots it perfectly.
TRY, BENETTON, LUCCHESI! 12-13; Lucchesi dots down after Benetton win the lineout and drive forward before crashing over the Sharks line.
Benetton drive forward and win a lineout 10m out from the Sharks line.
KICK-OFF! We're underway with the second half…
HALF-TIME, SHARKS 12-8 BENETTON. Some great rugby form both sides, with Benetton only finding their feet in the last third of the half. We could be in for a humdinger… although the players are looking tired after a bruising first half.
Lovely work from Benetton, running the ball left then right… then a ruck, then a drive through the Sharks… finally though a knock-on with the ball in a dangerous position and that's half-time, and a bruising half it's been for all of us.
Sharks press Benetton back, a kick is pushed downfield but it runs out of play so we'll scrum near the halfway line, Benetton to feed.
DRAMA! The ref calls the shot clock on Marin, who quickly picks up the ball and attempts a drop kick… struck well, but it just slides wide. Those could be two crucial points dropped.
TRY, BENETTON, MENONCELLO! 12-8; Superb break from Benetton down the right, feeding Menoncello, who powers around Kok to score a super try a couple of feet in front the right corner flag!
Benetton's prop Zani is down with an injury to his leg. Looks in huge agony.
We're scrumming now on the halfway line. Benetton to feed the pack monster. Sharks penalised though, Benetton with the quick tap and go…
Sharks counter through a run down the line and kick forward from Fassi, but Benetton drive it back. Just heard that Etzebeth is not going to come back this match, which is hopefully just precautionary.
Great take in the lineout and Menoncello breaks through a few tackles until he's brought down 3m short of the line.
Benetton win a penalty on the Sharks' 10m close to the touchline and it's kicked to the 22 for a lineout.
Sharks run right then left, they're blocked and drive forward then sling the ball out right and try to drive back to the poles… but they are blown for a penalty inside their 22, which is kicked to their 10m line.
UNLUCKY! Masuku with the conversion form 17m to the left of the poles… it's on target but then SMACKS against the outside of the upright.
TRY, SHARKS, NCHE! 12-3; Ox just forced himself over - great reward after some powerful attacking, but Benetton really made them work for that.
Sharks with the scrum on the 5m line… Tshituka breaks from the scrum and tries to power over but Benetton's defence is strong.
Sharks drive forward, thru the 22 with Masuku, then down to the corner and over the 5m… Williams is THROUGH on the line BUT NO he's knocked back with a powerful tackle and now a Benetton man is flat out on the turf.
Double blow as Vincent Koch goes off with blood streak down his forehead and limping badly… and Etzebeth having to go for HIA. Labuschagne and Jacobs come on to replace them.
After an injury break, Benetton feed the scrum just inside the Sharks half… and are forced back into their own half! Sharks pack is STRONG!
CONVERSION, SHARKS, MASUKU! 7-3; Lovely kick from the right of the poles, about 17m wide of the posts.
TRY, SHARK, FASSI! 5-3; Lovely quick passing down the line, Fassi joins and just runs powerfully through for the five-pointer!
Sharks pressing hard in the scrum gaining good ground.
Fassie chases a long ball forward but is just beaten by the man from Benetton.
Benetton try to launch a counter but can't break through the Shark line.
Sharks with a lot of pressure on the visitors, pushing them back into their own half.
PENALTY, BENETTON, MARIN! 0-3; He almost ran out of the shot clock and also scuffed his kick, only just making it inside the poles! But three points it is!
Sharks penalised in front of their poles on the 22… and Benetton will go for the points!
KICK-OFF! WE'RE UNDERWAY WITH THE FIRST HALF!
Our referee is Mike Adamson from Scotland and he will be assisted by Morné Ferreira and Hanru van Rooyen (both from South Africa). Our TMO is Hollie Davidson, also from Scotland.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Leonardo Marin, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (captain), 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Federico Zani. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Edoardo Iachizzi, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Vincent Tshituka, 7 Gerbrandt Grobler, 6 James Venter, 5 Corne Rahl, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Lappies Labuschagne, 20 Tino Mavesere, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Diego Appolis.
Benetton are on the cusp of the playoff places, although if the Sharks win the Champions Cup that might all change. Benetton have won nine of their 15 games, earning them 44 points. They are level on 44 points with two other sides, so they will be desperate for a win. They have a points difference of plus-6.
After a disastrous start to the season, the Sharks have floated up from the bottom of the table (16th place) up to 13th place. They have won four of their 15 games, earning them 23 points. They have a points difference of minus-23.
Benetton have won three and lost two of their last five matches.
The Sharks are on a good run of form, with four wins from their last five games.
The Sharks have won the last three matches between the two sides.
