A long-range penalty by Fred Zeilinga four minutes from time helped the Sharks snatch a last-ditch 19-16 victory over the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup clash at Kings Park on Saturday night.
The home flyhalf kicked 14 points in total, with the other five coming through a late try by Tonderai Chavhanga.
However, the visitors will rue what might have been after leading the game for most of the evening thanks to a brilliant Clayton Blommetjies’ try and the boot of Willie du Plessis.
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The defeat was their second in three games, while victory for the coastal side lifted them to second on the table behind Western Province.
The Cheetahs did most of the early running, but their best chance ended with a knock-on from Rayno Benjamin 10 metres out on the right after a floated pass by centre Joubert Engelbrecht.
At the other end, the Sharks were gradually improving, and fullback SP Marais did brilliantly to set up Chavhanga, who ran out of space on the left, while centre Paul Jordaan and loose forward Francois Kleinhans were also caught just before the line.
After a scoreless opening quarter, the first points finally arrived in the 21st minute when Du Plessis kicked over a penalty as lock Etienne Oosthuizen was penalised for not releasing the tackler.
The lead was doubled moments later by the Cheetahs flyhalf after Marco Wentzel was caught off-side, before the opening try arrived in the 26th minute courtesy of some clever play from the busy Sarel Pretorius .
The experienced scrumhalf made the most of some casual defending from the hosts after the kick-off by darting sharply out of his 22-metre area and spreading right to fullback Blommetjies, who kicked forward and re-gathered expertly ahead of Chavhanga and Zeilinga.
There was finally some scoreboard joy for the hosts on the half-hour when flyhalf Zeilinga popped over three points after prop Kevin Stevens was caught off-side.
It was 13-3 at the break and the hosts cut a further three points off the lead straight after the restart through Zeilinga – with Francois Uys guilty of infringing this time.
However, another Wentzel infringement less than two minutes later gifted the Cheetahs back their lead as Du Plessis slotted the penalty.
Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson had seen enough by then, sending on Lourens Adriaanse, Thomas du Toit, Conrad Hoffmann and Lionel Cronje even before 50 minutes were up.
The new-look front row made an instant impact by winning a scrum penalty that was kicked over by Zeilinga, narrowing the gap to seven.
It could have been even better for the home side with 14 minutes to play, but Zeilinga missed for the first time on the night when he dragged it wide kicking into the wind.
But there was still a twist four minutes later as Chavhanga sliced through the middle after taking a neat pass from Hoffmann to run in under the posts.
And with time running out, Zeilinga landed the winning 45-metre penalty, which was a result of another strong scrum.
The Cheetahs nearly claimed a late win when prop Stevens appeared to have scored. However, replays showed Stevens had lost the ball before grounding.
But the Sharks may count themselves lucky as replays showed the ball was kicked out of Stevens’ hand as he attempted to dot down.
The referee (Rasta Rasivhenge) and the TMO (Jason Jaftha) though failed to spot the ball being kicked out of Stevens’ hand and awarded a scrum to the hosts.
In next weekend’s action, the Sharks travel to Nelspruit to face the Pumas, while the Cheetahs duel with Griquas in Kimberley.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks:
- Try: Tonderai Chavhanga (1)
- Conversion: Fred Zeilinga (1)
- Penalties: Zeilinga (4)
Toyota Free State Cheetahs:
- Try: Clayton Blommetjies (1)
- Conversion: Willie du Plessis (1)
- Penalties: Willie du Plessis (3)
Western Province toppled the Golden Lions 27-14 in their the top-of-the-table third-round Currie Cup clash at Newlands on Saturday evening.
After leading 14-8 at the break, WP added a third try late in the match to sign off in grand style in front of just under 15 000 spectators.
Both teams ran the ball at every opportunity in the early exchanges. There were several half-chances to score, mainly because clearing kicks were charged down at either end, but the defences remained intact.
In the 11th minute, however, WP threatened several times after a maul from a lineout five metres out but their three-quarters made the breakthrough when right wing Kobus van Wyk rounded off, before flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis added the conversion (7-0).
Lady Luck smiled on WP four minutes later when Van Wyk gathered a poor Catrakilis clearance kick from virtually on his own goalline and ran the length of the field to snatch a second converted try (14-0).
Referee Craig Joubert punished WP for a breakdown infringement and left wing Ruan Combrinck goaled the 40-metre penalty to open the Lions’ scoring in the match (14-3).
The Lions staged a fightback in the final 10 minutes of the half but WP absorbed the pressure with ferocious tackling in their own 22-metre territory and looked set to retain their lead. But then a minute ahead of the half-time whistle, Andries Coetzee, the Lions’ fullback, found an inviting opening out wide and dotted down his side’s first try, which went unconverted (14-8).
The Lions looked strong at the start of the second half but they made no headway against a stubborn WP defence. Their early second-half territorial advantage proved handy when Combrinck goaled a penalty, but the advance was blanked out three minutes later by a Catrakilis penalty, which restored WP’s six-point lead (17-11).
The Lions continued to apply pressure for a 10-minute spell but they had to rely on another Combrinck penalty to keep the scoreboard ticking over. However, WP struck back four minutes later with a second Catrakilis penalty (20-14).
By the time the second half reached the halfway stage, WP seemed to find their early rhythm again. They did enough to record a third try but lost possession twice when the tryline was at their mercy. On both occasions, the Lions responded with counter-attacks from their in-goal area but the WP cover-defence scrambled well enough to rescue the situation.
Seven minutes before the end, WP ran the Lions ragged in a move initiated on their own 22-metre line and, despite several excellent tackles, substitute Jaco Taute was handily placed to take a scoring pass and crash over for his side’s third try.
Substitute pivot Kurt Coleman added the conversion to stretch the lead to 13 points.
Taute’s try effectively put the match beyond the never-say-die visitors and, with their 13-point defeat, they surrendered the top spot on the Currie Cup log.
Scorers:
DHL Western Province:
- Tries: Kobus van Wyk (2), Jaco Taute (1)
- Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (2), Kurt Coleman (1)
- Penalties: Demetri Catrakilis (2)
Xerox Golden Lions:
- Try: Andries Coetzee (1)
- Penalties: Ruan Combrinck (3)
The Blue Bulls won their first match of this year’s Currie Cup with a four-try bonus-point victory of 30-25 (half-time 11-8) over the Eastern Province Kings at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
The victory will merely paper over the serious cracks that are clearly visible after the Kings came close to claiming an upset over the more esteemed opposition.
The visitors truly accounted for themselves as they bounced back from two consecutive defeats, including a crushing 60-19 loss to the Golden Lions last weekend.
The Bulls, however, would welcome the reprieve after conceding 82 points in their opening two matches.
Although the hosts butchered a few chances, it was the coastal side that produced a number of enterprising attacks.
The Bulls opened the scoring six minutes into the encounter when flyhalf Tony Jantjies converted a penalty after making a promising assault on the line.
A minute later the Kings made their intentions clear as they crossed the whitewash from a counter-attack with wing Shane Gates finishing off a move that saw a couple of players handling the ball.
In the 15th minute Bulls captain Deon Stegmann scored his side’s first five-pointer of the match from a demolishing driving maul of over 20 metres.
Just under the half-hour mark, Jantjies extended the Bulls’ lead by three points with a successful penalty conversion but the Kings’ Scott van Breda replied with one of his own in the 37th minute to send the teams to the changerooms with the hosts leading 11-8.
After the break, the Kings took the lead for the first time in the match when, against the flow of play, prop Lizo Gqoboka broke from a ruck inside the Bulls’ 22 to score, with Van Breda slotting the conversion.
The Bulls suffered a further blow when Jantjies was shown a yellow card, which assisted the Kings in defending their lead until the 55th minute.
A minute after Kings’ replacement hooker Michael van Vuuren was also given his marching orders, the Bulls got their groove back as stalwart wing Akona Ndungane finished in the corner, with fullback Jesse Kriel hooking the conversion kick.
Ndungane again showed his class four minutes later, scoring on the other side of the field for his side’s third try of the match.
The hosts started to find easier access over the advantage line while the altitude seemed to have an effect on the Kings.
The Bulls put more daylight between the Kings and themselves when Kriel showed some great spacial awareness as he drifted outside before spotting a gap. He accelerated to find the tryline for his side’s bonus-point try.
The Kings bounced back immediately from the kickoff when Van Vuuren pounced on a spilled Bulls ball to score in the 64th minute, with Van Breda converting to cut the deficit to five points. However, they could not manage to get back into the danger zone to score what would have been a famous victory.
In next week’s action, the Bulls host Western Province in Pretoria, while the Kings entertain the Lions on Port Elizabeth.
Scorers:
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
- Tries: Deon Stegmann (1), Akona Ndungane (2), Jesse Kriel (1)
- Conversions: Tony Jantjies (2)
- Penalties: Tony Jantjies (2)
EP Kings:
- Tries: Shane Gates (1), Lizo Gqoboka (1), Mike Van Vuuren (1)
- Conversions: Scott van Breda (2)
- Penalties: Scott van Breda (2)
Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse was full of praise his team after achieving their second victory in the Currie Cup competition, beating Griquas 33-15 in Nelspruit on Friday.
The visitors dominated possession in the first 40 minutes, and held a one point lead at the break, but the Pumas fought back in the second half to score four tries for a bonus point win.
“We didn’t produce the best rugby in the first half. Griquas put us under a lot of pressure and they would have had a comfortable lead if they rounded off better,” he said.
“But we came back stronger in the second half and produced good rugby that secured the bonus point.”
The Pumas dominated the scrums though, where their pack of forwards outweighed Griquas by 50kg, and constantly had the visitors on the back foot. They did get pinned once or twice by referee Quinton Immelman, but Stonehouse was still pleased with his side’s performance.
“We put in a lot of effort on the practice field and it shows. We scrummed well against the Sharks the week before, and against Griquas we had another good performance.
“It makes a coach happy and gives us good momentum going forward.”
Griquas coach Hawies Fourie had little to smile about afterwards, with his side squandering many of the points that were up for grabs.
Griquas played an attacking brand of rugby and on many occasions progressed to within five metres of the line, only to see unforced errors, or an inability to finish off, kill their chances of building a lead.
“We delivered a poor performance with regards to finishing off the chances that we created,” Fourie said.
“We didn’t use our opportunities and in the end that reflected on the scoreboard. There is much we need to work on in the coming week before we take on the Free State Cheetahs next week at home.”
Although they were on the back foot in the scrums, Fourie felt a couple of 50-50 calls by the referee decided the outcome of the battle up front.
“The Pumas do have a very good scrum, but I don’t feel like we were dominated. A couple of times calls went against us and in other instances they worked in our favour,” he said.
“I was happy with the intensity the players showed though. We played the same tempo rugby we produced against the Sharks and lacked against the Cheetahs. That is a positive we can build on.”