Springbok captain Siya Kolisi took a while to underline his value to his new franchise but his influence was writ large as he spearheaded a comprehensive 47-20 win over the Vodacom Bulls for the Cell C Sharks in their United Rugby Championship New Year’s Eve clash at HollywoodBets Kings Park.
Kolisi moved from Cape Town to Durban nearly two years ago but until the last few months there was reason to speculate whether the move was good for him or for his new employers.
That debate has been ended in the last few weeks, with the World Cup-winning captain stamping his presence on another bleak night for Jake White and his Bulls.
It was a game where Kolisi did just about everything, including producing potentially try saving tackles, crucial turnovers (who says he’s not a genuine openside?), some strong runs as well as some deft handling that, if we were to use soccer parlance, could be described as assists.
?? Your @Vodacom #URC Player of the Match ??
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 31, 2022
?? Siya Kolisi | @SharksRugby#SHAvBUL pic.twitter.com/0W2omuTzwY
None more so than the pass that led to Bulls wing Canan Moodie deliberately tapping the ball into touch. Sikhumbuzo Notshe was well placed to score, so it led to Moodie being yellow carded and referee Marius van der Westhuizen was right to award the penalty try.
That turned what until then had been a Sharks deficit into a Sharks lead and the home side never looked back after that as they turned a 13-9 deficit in the 30th minute into a 30-13 lead at halftime.
There should have been a sense of deja vu for the visitors, for this was the second successive weekend over the festive season that they ended up being beaten by a coastal team in a South African derby by a margin that left them without even a solitary bonus point for their efforts.
And in some ways, it was a very similar game, with the Bulls suffering because of their indiscipline, with two yellow cards in the second part of the first half effectively responsible for the massive swing in the game that set up the Sharks’ charge to victory.
MAGICAL DUMMY AND OFFLOAD
With Cyle Brink paying for his team’s repeated infringements just a few minutes after Moodie had been banished to the bin, it meant that the Bulls played much of the last part of the first half with only 13 men on the field.
And they paid for it. Just like they did with their first half indiscipline against the Stormers the previous week.
What the Bulls did in this game though that they didn’t do against the Stormers was start well. They were the first on the board with a penalty from Chris Smith before the game had gone beyond the second minute, and Moodie scored a brilliant try to put them seven points clear when he followed up his own kick to score in the 18th minute.
Canan ‘Magic’ Moodie ??
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 31, 2022
Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby run rampant ??@Vodacom #URC | #SHAvBUL pic.twitter.com/nwAKPbKOWG
That made it 13-6, but it was the last time the Bulls scored until the 67th minute, by which time the Sharks had taken complete control by scoring 31 unanswered points, with most of those points coming in what turned out to be an extended end to the first half that ran to seven minutes of extra time.
The Sharks capitalised on their big advantage in the scrums when scrumhalf Grant Williams went over after several penalty advantages and then Bongi Mbonambi capitalised on the Sharks’ mauling advantage by dotting down off the last move of the half.
Marnus Potgieter scored a great try early in the second half to extend the Sharks’ advantage, with the score being set up by a magical dummy and offload from the ground by fullback Boeta Chamberlain.
Slick hands. Explosive power. ??@SharksRugby on the hunt ??@Vodacom #URC | #SHAvBUL pic.twitter.com/hCnoaaZqms
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 31, 2022
The Bulls struck back with a good try from their fullback, Johan Goosen, who was involved in a sublime bit of interplay with Moodie, who produced a performance on the field fitting of his standing as one of the finds of the year in South African rugby.
Unfortunately the performance got blotted by him having to suffer the indignity of a red card towards the end when he was found guilty of putting in a dangerous tackle on Potgieter.
It wasn’t a red card offence on its own but it was his second yellow so that condemned him to an early shower. The Sharks put the seal on their big win with an intercept try from Rohan Janse van Rensburg, who really does make a difference to them as a No 12, off the last move of the game.
The bonus-point win lifts the Sharks to fifth on the table and they are now challenging the Bulls for their second position in the South African Shield.
The ‘Shark Tank’ remains a formidable fortress ??@SharksRugby are now 5th in the league ??@Vodacom #URC | #SHAvBUL pic.twitter.com/QfcibjyiKT
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) December 31, 2022
SCORES
Cell C Sharks 47 - Tries: Grant Williams, Bongi Mbonambi, Marnus Potgieter and Rohan Janse van Rensburg; Penalty try; Conversions: Curwin Bosch 4; Penalties: Curwin Bosch 4.
Vodacom Bulls 20 - Tries: Canaan Moodie and Johan Goosen; Conversions: Chris Smith 2; Penalties: Chris Smith 2.