Vodacom Super Rugby
Sharks qualify for playoffs
2012-07-14 18:47
Durban - Tries from Keegan Daniel, Charl
McLeod, Marcell Coetzee and Ryan Kankowski helped the Sharks mount a
strong second-half recovery to book their place in the Super Rugby
playoffs with a 34-15 victory over the Cheetahs in Durban on Saturday.
The
home side's interest in the competition looked to be quickly slipping
away after the opening 40 minutes as they trailed 15-6 thanks to five
penalties from the boot of Cheetahs flyhalf Riaan Smit.
But a
strong half-time talk from coach John Plumtree seemed to have
reinvigorated them and they picked up 28 unanswered points in the second
period.
It took the better part of 15 minutes before the
deadlock was broken following a physical start, during which both packs
tried to assert their dominance.
The coastal outfit went ahead
via a 12th minute Frederic Michalak penalty after WP Nel failed to roll
away following the first real passage of attacking play from the Sharks.
But
the visitors hit back immediately after Coetzee did the same at the
other end, with Smit popping over a kick from right in front.
The
Cheetahs number 10 put his side in front after 19 minutes when Frans
Steyn was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle on Robert Ebersohn.
Lwazi
Mvovo was next to err for the home side, who looked to be getting
increasingly frustrated by their lack of possession, and after the
winger failed to release, Smit stretched the gap further for his side.
When
the Sharks finally managed to get forward, on the half-hour mark, they
were awarded a penalty, with Heinrich Brussow illegally stealing the
ball as Michalak cut the deficit.
McLeod, however, played his
opposite number, Piet van Zyl, off the ball in front of the posts
moments later, and replacement Willem Alberts gave away another kickable
penalty on the stroke of half-time. Both were slotted over by Smit,
giving the Free Staters a nine-point cushion at the interval.
Plumtree’s
men came out firing after the restart, though, and Daniel scored his
sixth try of the season in the 44th minute when he was on the end of an
attacking move that began at the kick-off as he went over on the left.
The
hosts scored twice more, on either side of the hour mark. JP
Pietersen’s burst and kick-ahead first allowed McLeod to cross, before
Coetzee sliced through the middle to score underneath the posts.
Kankowski
added a bonus-point try when he broke away from the left six minutes
from the end to score under the posts and seal the win.
Teams:Sharks:
15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12
Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Charl McLeod, 8
Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Anton
Bresler, 4 Jandre Marais, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Tendai
Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Wiehahn Herbst,
18 Pieter-Steph du Toit/Jean Deysel, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Jacques
Botes, 21 Meyer Bosman/Paul Jordaan, 22 Louis Ludik
Cheetahs:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Barry Geel,
11 Philip Snyman, 10 Riaan Smit, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7
Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4
Andries Ferreira, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor
Nyakane
Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Marcel van der
Merwe, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21
Sias Ebersohn, 22 Andries Strauss