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Curwin Bosch. (Photo by Steve Haag / Gallo Images)
The Sharks woke up from their Christmas slumber to start the new year with a resounding, if somewhat flawed, 47-19 victory over Griquas at King’s Park on Saturday.
By all accounts, the Durbanites were ‘lucky’ to face the Currie Cup punching bag, but the value of this extra points victory is vividly illustrated by the fact that they are suddenly back in the fight for a semifinal at home despite extensive losses (12) 27 to the Lions and 10-37 to the Cheetahs, in their two previous meetings.
There were brief initial signs of a continued hangover as Griquas’ stalwart winger Enver Brandt pounced on a bad attacking pass to Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am, who lunged from the first minute.
While it quickly became apparent thereafter that the source pack would have too much ammunition for limited visitors, it took the Sharks a while to find a coherent execution appearance.
A good example was hooker Fez Mbatha’s try prep, where returning fullback Aphelele Fassi completely overcame a fictitious run that prevented scrum half Jaden Hendrikse from completing a potential scoring opportunity to wing Yaw Penxe.
But they held their heads well enough to earn a penalty moments later, from where Mbatha, who delivered a dignified and lively performance, orchestrated a maul well.
The Sharks continued to dominate even though they were scoreless for most of the half such as their own poor ball protection and some energetic yet opportunistic rucking from the Peacock Blues.
The turning point came in the 30th minute, when elevated midfielder Curwin Bosch decided to vary some phases of recycled possession by launching a good cross kick to wing Werner Kok, who edged past Griqua’s fullback James Verity-Amm to score.
Four minutes later, Hendrikse’s quick touch on his own 22 and forward kick seemed to undermine the Sharks’ attacking intent, as all that visiting midfielder Tinus de Beer had to do was clear on play.
However, the pivot, who was nervous throughout, somehow spilled the ball as he dived, giving Penxe possession, who collided with a defender to score.
After a high tackle saved De Beer’s bacon after another failed cleanup, the Sharks continued to apply pressure, setting up a maul that eventually saw the ball travel along the line for Bosch to launch a deft chip that was superbly rounded. by Am. who somehow beat the hapless De Beer on the ball.
Buoyed by a 26-7 lead at halftime, the Sharks had no trouble keeping up, even if there was still an element of slack in their game.
No. 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe delivered one of the undoubted highlights of the hosts’ attacking game on the day, brilliantly embarking on a run down the right after a loss before seamlessly cutting to the left to cut through the defense of Griquas.
It’s true that Am helped him obstruct a potential tackler, but the TMO ruled the attempt was legitimate.
An efficient maul allowed replacement Dylan Richardson to explode, allowing the Sharks to really gallop out of sight before Griquas’ wing Gideon van der Merwe scored the first of two consolation attempts.
Summing up the visitors ‘day was Fassi’s try, who pounced on a cross shot on Griquas’ own 22.
It surrounded the comic.
Scorers:
Sharks – (26) 47
Tries: Fez Mbatha, Werner Kok, Yaw Penxe, Lukhanyo Am, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Dylan Richardson, Aphelele Fassi
Conversions: Curwin Bosch (6)
Griquas – (7) 19
Attempts: Gideon van der Merwe (2), Enver Brandt
Conversion: Tinus de Beer, Ashlon Davids
