The Cell C Sharks scored 31 unanswered points in a second half surge to down Connacht 41-21 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday night.
The five-try victory gave them a bonus point, kept the side in the hunt for a home playoff in the Championship and ended Connacht’s unbeaten run against South African sides.
After using a combination of robust play, off-ball tactics and refereeing leniency to get to this point, Connacht finally met their match as the Sharks team that emerged in that second half was a total opposite of the side that played in the first 40, and they simply blew the Irish side away.
Connacht’s tactics that worked against other South African sides, of off-ball niggles and getting under their skin, made little difference in a second half where the Sharks exuded confidence and poise, and struck when they needed to, to take the game away from the Irish team.
Whatever was said at the break was the right elixir for the Durban team, and it ignited not only their Weekend Special in Aphelele Fassi, but their pack, led by Bongi Mbonambi, who grew in stature as the game went on.
Players like Henco Venter, Le Roux Roets, two-try hero Gerbrandt Grobler all were thorns in the Irish side in the second half, while the cameo on the wing by scrumhalf Grant Williams ignited both pace and some uncertainty in the Connacht backline, and gave them an unexpected edge.
The win also means the Sharks now move into 56 points, and have a tough last game against fellow playoff contenders Ulster in Belfast to finish their campaign, but considering they were looking down and out in that first half, the reversal in the second will give them a lot of confidence as they moved above the Bulls and level with Munster in the log.
But in their home campaign - apart from the blip against Edinburgh, they did what they needed to do and were close to unstoppable in the last 40 minutes.
And for once, it was good to see the negative tactics so often employed by Connacht hit a dead end as they grew more and more frustrated as the game went on.
The first half though, it worked well for the Irish side as they took the lead early through the boot of Conor Fitzgerald, briefly lost it when Grobler barged over from close range, and then retook it second later as Gavin Thornbury charged down a poor clearance kick by Jaden Hendrikse to give them double figures.
The second Connacht try came as Caolin Blade beat a defender and exploited some poor defensive alignment, passed to Finlay Beatham and was handed the ball back at the perfect time to run in under the posts.
From the first 40 the Sharks attack was stunted, they seemed distracted as they fell for the tactics and were poor defensively.
But things suddenly changed in the second half.
Williams injected pace by coming onto the field and linking well in the backline, taking the ball up before putting Marius Louw away for the try.
The Sharks had found their confidence, and the pack responded. Suddenly the metres made in the carries became shunted, stopped, and the Connacht attack seemed a lot less potent.
And the Sharks pack’s maul found its feet. Mbonambi was at the heart of every attack, as was Venter, and the metres they made were like a knife in the heart of the Connacht defence.
If it wasn’t for several missed chances in the second half, the Sharks could have run away with a bigger victory, but when first Mbonambi bashed his way over in the 48th minute and Grobler did the same five minutes later the game was totally different.
The Sharks were dominant and their backs were relishing the chance to run. Curwin Bosch’s confidence to run from the back returned and Fassi found metres all around him as he danced his way downfield with much too ease.
Was it not for poor finishing but the Sharks would have been much happier. But either way they controlled the pace of the game and made the Connacht attack look impotent for much of the second 40.
It was only a matter of time before big Le Roux Roets finished the game in their favour and settled matters.
And it underlined the fact this Sharks team are far from finished.
Whether they can pull off similar feats away from home waits to be seen. But they did what they needed to do. Even though they would rather forget the first 40 minutes of the game.
SCORERS
CELL C SHARKS - tries: Gerbrandt Grobler (2), Marius Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Le Roux Roets. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (5). Penalties: Bosch (2).
CONNACHT - tries: Gavin Thornbury, Caolin Blade. Conversions: Conor Fitzgerald (1). Penalties: Fitzgerald (3)