[ad_1]
The Sharks It only took 25 minutes of the first half of intense carnivorous attack game to kill the Bulls 45-12 in the final match of the teams’ warm-up series before the Rainbow Cup begins next month.
They scored five attempts in that time, seven in the game, in a highly entertaining game, filled with courage and enterprise, despite the rainy conditions in King Park on Friday night.
MARKER | Sharks 45-12 Bulls
This was the most energetic and fierce performance by the Sharks against one of the “Big Four” franchises since they defeated the Stormers in their last Super Rugby game on the same field this month last year before the pandemic outbreak.
Literally from kickoff, the Sharks attacked the Bulls with brutal tackles and a quick defense that forced the visitors to make unusual mistakes.
It’s as if the Sharks practiced on wet balls, reminiscent of when nations did the same in Japan during the World Cup in 2019, to prepare for the soggy surface.
Sean Everitt’s men stung the Bulls in the third minute when hooker Fez Mbatha crashed over the try line from the back of a well-executed lineout.
The Sharks set up the lineout the same way the Bulls did when they inflicted a 41-14 penalty loss at Loftus during Super Rugby Unlocked last October.
With the final Currie Cup loss to White’s men in January still on the horizon in the rearview mirror, the Sharks were keen to turn around their Pretoria rivals.
Shortly after Mbatha scored, they drove again five minutes later and earned a penalty try after the Bulls illegally knocked down another Sharks maul that Mbatha controlled.
As they threatened to clear, Nizaam Carr took advantage of a Marnus Potgieter midfield break to score the Bulls’ only try in the first half.
Despite that moment, it was all Sharks: the scrums, the intricate movements, the line jumps, the counterattacks and the touchdowns.
Siya Kolisi brought a huge, uninhibited roar from her bench as she stepped forward for her first attempt with the Sharks on her 16th minute debut.
Marius Louw appeared shortly after, following another move at the lineout, this time Mbatha acting as a decoy carrier, before feeding into the center to pass four defenders and score.
By the 25th minute, the Sharks had added their fifth try of the first half via loose-headed pillar Ox Nche, who didn’t want to miss out on the try feast.
The Sharks could have scored higher in the middle, such was their voracious appetite, if it weren’t for a desperate and desperate tackle, especially from Madosh Tambwe, who went looking for Anthony Volmink before he hit the line.
The Bulls got back to the middle in the second half by restricting the Sharks and reducing the huge deficit through the blast of 50 meters from first center, Dawid Kellerman, to the try line.
But that mini-counter by the Bulls was in vain as the Sharks added two late attempts by Rynhardt Jonker and Sanele Nohamba to lead them to a morale-boosting victory.
Scorers:
Sharks 45 (31)
Attempts: Fez Mbatha, penalty trial, Siya Kolisi, Marius Louw, Ox Nche, Rynhardt Jonker, Sanele Nohamba
Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), Sanele Nohamba
Bulls 12 (5)
Attempts: Nizaam Carr, Dawid Kellerman
Conversion: Morne Steyn
Equipment:
Sharks
15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1
Substitutes: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Aphelele Fassi
Bulls
15 Richard Kriel, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Dawid Kellerman, 11 Diego Appollis, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Werner Gouws, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Raynard Roets, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 Jay-Cee Nel, 24 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 25 Reinhardt Ludwig, 26 Bernard van der Linde, 27 Niel Beukes
