The Sharks ended off their season on a high note as they demolished a game Southern Kings side 58-13 in Durban on Saturday.
The home side may have missed out on the playoffs after a poor run, but scored no fewer than 10 tries as they took the Vodacom Super Rugby newcomers apart with a mix of dominant forward play and some incisive backline movements.
It was the Kings that scored first, shocking the home crowd as an ex-Shark, Waylon Murray, intercepted a long pass by Meyer Bosman to run the length of the field and cross the line first.
The Sharks simply reverted to their tried and tested maul, with the first drive allowing Marcell Coetzee to peel off and barge his way over the line while the second saw Bismarck du Plessis cross the whitewash with ease at the back of the juggernaut of players.
They added a third try in the 17th minute when Odwa Ndungane, who played an exceptional game, chased down a grubber in style and was given a favourable bounce to pounce on the ball despite the attention of two Kings players.
The Kings managed to secure some good possession to first slot a penalty through George Whitehead, and then gave the Sharks some mauling medicine of their own as Mpho Mbiyozo peeled off the back of a lineout drive to dive over unopposed and bring them back into the game.
But any pretences they had about scoring an upset or even keeping up with the Sharks’ scoreline went out the window when the third Sharks lineout drive was stopped illegally and referee Stuart Berry had no option but to award a penalty try to the home team.
For his part in the indiscretion Devin Oosthuizen received his marching orders for the professional foul.
The Kings managed to see the half out with 14 men without conceding more points and the team went bacjk to the dreeisng rooms at half time with the Sharks leading the Kings 26-13.
The Kings wheels started truly coming off early in the second half when the Sharks used prime turnover ball to send Riaan Viljoen away for the fifth try.
With the result no longer a factor, the Sharks started taking control, and after a 12-phase attack, prop Tendai Mtawarira found some space and saw the tryline with no Kings player able to stop him scoring a great try.
Louis Ludick added his name to the scoresheet shortly afterwards and it was clear the Kings had little left in the tank, with the only real question being how many tries the Sharks could put on the board by this stage.
As the clock ticked down, the Sharks edged closer to 50 as Keegan Daniel scored after finding gaping holes in the Kings’ defence, and replacement Fred Zelinga took them past the 50 mark with a try on debut.
Bosman, one of the players leaving for greener pastures, finished off the match with a try that went from end to end as the Sharks capped a good night on the park by winning in style.
But despite the victory lifting them to seventh on the log, they still finish just outside the top six, and their fans will be left wondering what could have been had one or two other results gone their way.
After the game the Kings director of Rugby, Alan Solomons, had the following to say:
Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons said the team, which lacked a number of key players, had not played well, which showed in the final score of 58 to 13.
“We played very poorly. We made a lot of errors and The Sharks capitalised on those errors, which resulted in points,” said Solomons.
Solomons said the errors had run through the entire game, with among others, fractured setpiece, disappointing lineouts and poor handling skills.
“Our ability to stem their mauls was extremely poor. Three of their first four tries resulted from their driving maul, which we were unable to stem.”
“We also failed to stop their momentum. They are a momentum side. We just gave them enormous yards. If you fail to stop them and allow them to build up momentum, then you’re in big trouble,” he said.
Solomons said, despite the result, he had been impressed with the performance of youngsters Aidon Davis, Shane Gates and Siviwe Soyizwapi, all of whom were a credit to the work being done by the Kings Academy.
Solomons said the game also had to be seen in context of the upcoming promotion / relegation matches against the Lions.
“I would say you have to see this game in context, for us, our focus after the Stormers was firmly on the promotion / relegation matches, and a lot of the guys who played on the weekend, haven’t had much Super Rugby game time and have not played together as a combination. All those factors came into the mix, but we have had to look at the bigger picture,” he said.
“The players will be given a break until Thursday morning, when we will regroup and start preparations for the first promotion relegation game, which is on the 26th of July,” he said.
SCORERS
- Sharks – Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Penalty try, Odwa Ndungane, Riaan Viljoen, Tendai Mtawarira, Louis Ludik, Keegan Daniel, Frederik Zeilinga, Meyer Bosman. Conversions: Meyer Bosman (4).
- Southern Kings – Tries: George Whitehead, Mpho Mbiyozo. Penalty: Whitehead.
The Southern Kings now have two promotion/relegation games to play against the Lions to determine who will be in Super Rugby next year. The first promotion Relegation game against the Lions is scheduled for Friday the 26th of July 2013, at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with kickoff at 19:10. The EP Kings vs Boland game moves to an earlier 16:45 timeslot as a curtain raiser, with both games being televised.
The winning team will be determined as follows:
- If one team wins both games then that team stays in (or goes to) Super Rugby in 2014
If the teams one game each then:
- The team with the highest number of points for stays in (or goes to) Super Rugby in 2014
- If the number of points for is the same then the team with the highest number of tries stays in (or goes to) Super Rugby in 2014
- If the number of tries is a draw then the team that is in Super Rugby stays in Super Rugby
Alan Straton
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