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Flyhalf By Curwin Bosch fourth penalty of the night showed the difference as the Sharks beat the Lions 19-16 in close competition at Kings Park.
How it happened | Sharks vs Lions
Super Rugby Unlocked’s opening game lived up to the billing as the two sides exchanged blows from the first bell.
The flyhalves played a crucial role, but it was the Sharks’ youngest center, Bosch, who edged out wily veteran Elton Jantjies.
Werner Kok opened the scoring by landing for his first Sharks attempt on debut, assisted by Springbok Lukhanyo Am in the 5th minute. Phepsi Buthelezi, however, played a great hand after his big one-handed volley released Am , who released Kok.
The ball came from Rabz Maxwane being stripped of it, following a high kick from Bosch that the Lions did not handle properly. In typical Shark fashion we saw at Super Rugby this year, they were launched.
The Sharks benefited from having two genuine playmakers in upper middle Bosch and fullback Manie Libbok, as well as the outspokenness of midfielder Marius Louw.
They could kick, run and counter at will from either side of the field and ran the Lions erratically in the early parts of the game.
The Lions lost Dillon Smit in the 12th minute of the game after a collision across the Lions’ try line with Louw led to a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Morné van den Berg, 22, who made his debut for the Lions earlier this year in Super Rugby.
Despite being largely on the defensive for most of the first half and under constant pressure from the enterprising Sharks, the Lions held on and made sure to keep the deficit at just 0-7.
The Lions finally came off the mark on a Jantjies penalty after half an hour, which was well earned by Vincent Tshituka, who reached for the ball at the break of a Buthelezi carry straight from a restart.
Johannesburg’s men could have had more of an impact on the scoreboard at halftime, during which the Sharks led 13-3, but gave up no less than four scoring opportunities.
The Lions went to the lineout four times in attack when they won penalties in Sharks territory. Once they toppled the ball, twice their maul was stopped and just before the break, they surrendered possession at the break.
With a sniper like Jantjies in the park, those potential missing points could easily be interpreted as 12 points down the drain.
Eleven minutes into the second half, the Lions found their bite when Jantjies proved he’s a crafty old fox. When the Lions won a penalty inside the Sharks’ 22-meter area, he held the ball as if it were going to kick towards the line, but chipped for Jamba Ulengo at the other end.
Ulengo jumped past Bosch in the corner to score the Lions try, putting them firmly in the game. Jantjies then completed his Picasso work by turning the attempt from a tight angle into the corner.
Bosch and Jantjies exchanged penalties as the game went to the end. The Sharks led 19-16 with less than four minutes to play and Jantjies had a penalty kick that hit the post at point-blank range that would have tied the scores.
The Sharks’ defense held out in the closing seconds under pressure from the Lions, including a series of Lions innings in scrums 5 yards from the try line.
Scorers:
Sharks 19 (13)
Test: Werner Kok
Conversion: Curwin Bosch
Penalties: Bosch (4)
Lions 16 (3)
Test: Jamba Ulengo
Conversion: Elton Jantjies
Penalties: Jantjies (3)
Teams:
Sharks
15 Manie Libbok, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Thaakir Abrahams
Lions
15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vince Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Willem Alberts , 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole
Substitutes: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Gianni Lombard, 24 Wandisile Simelane, 25 Ruan Dreyer
