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Sharks cruise to victory

Witbank - The Sharks returned to winning ways as they beat the Barloworld Toyota Pumas 30-14 (half-time 27-14) in their Absa Currie Cup match at Puma Stadium in Witbank on Friday.

The Sharks, after losing 40-34 to the Blue Bulls in their last match, collected five log points thanks to scoring four tries to maintain their stranglehold at the top of the Currie Cup standings, 13 points ahead of their nearest challenger.

However, it was a far from convincing performance from the Sharks as, except for the first 20 minutes, they failed to turn their dominance over their opponents into points.

The second half in particular saw the men in black turn in a rather error-riddled performance and despite spending the most of the half in Pumas’ territory they only managed to score three points thanks to a penalty from the boot of flyhalf Patrick Lambie.

Handling errors were at the heart of the Sharks’ inability to round off moves in the second half while credit must also be given to the Pumas’ defence as the home side made 92 tackles during the match to the 72 made by the Sharks.

The crowd in Witbank were treated to an electrifying start as three tries were scored in the first six minutes of the match.

The Sharks were the first team to trouble the scorers, as early as the second minute, when hooker Craig Burden broke through on the Pumas’ 22 before off-loading to flank Jacques Botes to score a converted try.

Two minutes later the scores were level thanks to a wonderful try from Pumas flyhalf Elgar Watts who made full use of turnover ball to swerve his way through the Sharks’ defence.

It keeping with the general early theme of the match it took the Sharks just two minutes to regain the lead when left wing Lwazi Mvovo was on hand to round off a sweeping backline move.

Lambie then nailed a penalty as the visitors raced to a 15-7 lead.

The men from Durban continued to pile on the pressure and, in the 16th minute, right wing Odwa Ndungane received the ball on the left wing before handing off one would-be tackler to dot down in the corner.

As the first quarter came to an end the Sharks picked up the bonus-point try as the ever-industrious Burden scooped up a loose ball on the Pumas’ 10-metre line.

Burden shrugged off one tackler before sprinting away to score between the posts.

The first quarter of the match may have belonged to the Sharks but the home side dominated the second 20 minutes.

The Pumas enjoyed the majority of possession and territory during the period and were only prevented from scoring by a combination of dogged defence from the Sharks and handling errors at crucial stages.

The hosts also turned down four kickable penalties in favour of kicking for the corner and the tactic eventually paid off with less than a minute left in the half when flank Corne Steenkamp was mauled over from a five-metre lineout as the Sharks reached the break holding a 27-14 lead.

In the first half the Sharks had made use of the high-tempo game which has served them so well this season but in the second stanza they adopted a more pragmatic forward-dominated approach.

The tactic proved to be a good one as the visitors took full control of the match, dominating all facets of play.

But the dominance failed to provide the points the Sharks would have liked with Pumas eighthman Christo Le Roux featuring prominently on defence for the home side.

The loss leaves the Pumas in seventh place on the log with three wins and 17 points from 10 matches.

Scorers:

Pumas:
Tries: Watts, Steenkamp
Cons: Pretorius 2
 
Sharks:
Tries: Botes, Mvovo 2, Burden
Cons: Lambie 2
Pens: Lambie 2

Teams:


Pumas:
15. Johan Jackson, 14. Braam Pretorius, 13. Tiaan Marx, 12. Ashwin Scott, 11. Allister Kettledas, 10. Elgar Watts, 9. Tian Carel Meyer, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 6. Corne Steenkamp, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Andries Kruger, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin (captain), 1. Ronnie Uys

Replacements: 16. De-Jay Terblanche, 17. Dawie Steyn, 18. Willem Jacob Serfontein, 19. Jaco Bouwer, 20. Ricardo Croy, 21. Siviwe Wilmot Magaba, 22. Martin Sithole

Sharks:

15. Stefan Terblanche (captain) 14. Odwa Ndungane 13. Andries Strauss 12. Riaan Swanepoel 11. Lwazi Mvovo 10. Patrick Lambie 9. Charl McLeod 8. Ryan Kankowski 7. Willem Alberts 6. Jacques Botes 5. Alistair Hargreaves 4. Steven Sykes 3. Eugene van Staden 2. Craig Burden 1. Patric Cilliers

Replacements: 16. Kyle Cooper 17. Wiehahn Herbst 18. Michael Rhodes 19. Skholiwe Ndlovu 20. Rory Kockott 21. Andre Pretorius 22. Louis Ludik
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