The Hollywoodbets Sharks took another step closer to securing a Vodacom United Rugby Championship top eight spot as they outlasted Cardiff 21-15 in a scrappy and uninspiring game in Durban on Friday night.
The Sharks added Cardiff’s scalp to that of Munster, but in the humidity of the Friday night air, they were less than impressive against a Welsh side that never went away and while they led from for most of the match, they never got enough daylight to feel comfortable with the victory.
Their inability to score a bonus point for four tries may come back to haunt them later in the season, but for now their coach JP Pietersen would be happy with just securing the victory.
Despite having 60 per cent possession and a bulk of territory, the Sharks had less line breaks than Cardiff and generally struggled to impose themselves at home on the opposition, with the Welsh side significantly better than their performance in Pretoria last week when the Bulls smashed them.
BRACE FOR GRADY
There were some excellent games for Cardiff players James Botham, Johan Mulder and especially winger Mason Grady, who looked dangerous whenever he got the ball.
The Sharks may not have been that impressive, but they will know that sometimes you need to grind out a victory, and in the broader South African context, that win was very important for the other three teams that are vying for their own positions in the top eight.
Still, there was enough from man of the match Phepsi Buthelezi to be proud of, as were impressive performances by Jason Jenkins, who has an engine that never stops. Nick Hatton also got in on the act, while Jordan Hendrikse looked dangerous on attack and Andre Esterhuizen produced another top class performance.
In the end the Sharks got the points on the board and that is all that mattered and while their attention will now turn to the EPCR Challenge Cup next weekend, this victory will show that they are a step closer to being the consistent side that Pietersen wants them to be.
The conditions on the night were as difficult as the opposition with the humidity playing a role, and it wasn’t a surprise that both first half tries for the Sharks were the result of keeping the ball close to the forwards.
MAUL DOMINANT
Their first - the first of a brace by Buthelezi - was a classic lineout maul drive, with the twisting group of bodies ending up over the whitewash and Buthelezi claiming the try at the back of the maul.
Cardiff then hit back a few minutes later, battering the Sharks line over and over before the wide ball found Grady in space and he had an easy run in to score.
The Sharks lost Hendrikse to a yellow card, thanks to a lazy arm wrapping around in a tackle, that didn’t seem that bad, but because of the linebreak potential on the outside, cost him 10 minutes in the sin bin.
While he was there, Cardiff took their chance, taking it up with the forwards before a cross-field chip bounced right again for Grady, who slung himself over the tackle to plant the ball behind the line and give his side the lead.
It was short-lived as the Sharks first pulled their front row on the half-hour mark in a surprising move, then won the next scrum penalty, pumped it into the corner and watched their lineout maul take control.
It wasn’t a surprise when Buthelezi came careening out of the back, breaking away to surge over the line for his second try.
Yaw Penxe grabbed the third try, taking control in a period of broken play where the Sharks were going nowhere and putting on the afterburners, chipping over the defence and collecting to score.
SECOND HALF WAS SCRAPPY
That left the Sharks 21-12 up at the break and while they dominated most of the second half, they couldn’t get over the tryline.
The frustrations continued to build, and Cardiff grew in belief, but their only scoring chance in the second half came from a penalty to Ioan Lloyd, who took the shot with seven minutes left to give Cardiff a losing bonus point, making sure they got something out of their South African tour.
The rest of the second half was hardly worth writing about, as the game became scrappy and neither side was clinical enough to trouble the scorers.
And even though the Sharks were on attack when the hooter went, the decision by Bradley Davids to boot it out and secure the win rather than chase the bonus point said a lot about where the Durban side are at the moment.
A win is a win, and they will remind anyone asking that this is all that counts at the moment.
SCORERS
HOLLYWOODBETS SHARKS - tries: Phepsi Buthelezi (2), Yaw Penxe. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2), Bradley Davids.
CARDIFF RUGBY - tries: Mason Grady (2). Conversion: Callum Sheedy. Penalty: Ioan Lloyd.