Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Sharks restored South African pride in the United Rugby Championship when they went through the gears in beating the Glasgow Warriors 40-12 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
That the Sharks eventually wore down and showed the Warriors flames was down to their star quality on the bench, along with a brace from Anthony Volmink.
However, there’s an inconsistency and defensive brittleness to this side that requires work as the season progresses.
That they’re a good side is not in dispute and how they put away what was a very competitive Warriors out spoke of that.
The win, the first by a South African side this weekend after the Stormers drew at Osprey while the Lions lost at home to Ulster, not only earned them a bonus point through their five tries, but also moved them to fourth on the log.
Ulster, who beat the Sharks in one of the quarter-finals last season, lie in wait for the Sharks next week and as the Lions and most of the teams have learnt, they never go away.
They’ll ask the Sharks pressing questions that’ll require the hosts to be better, especially from a defensive perspective.
At 13-7, it may have looked like the Sharks deserved their lead, but the truth was far from that. They played with an element of disjointedness that for a team of that quality, remains a huge concern.
This playing disorganisation was evident in Tom Gordon’s first try in the 14th minute where front rowers Thomas du Toit, Nthuthuko Mchunu and Kerron van Vuuren were very sluggish in wrapping around a ruck to close space on the blindside.
Gordon spotted the space and hared the 30-odd metres to score relatively untouched. The Sharks had taken the lead in the 13th minute through a Boeta Chamberlain penalty, but did nothing of note aside from another Chamberlain penalty in the 24th minute.
Enter Volmink.
Starting ahead of the rested Thaakir Abrahams, Volmink wasn’t getting as much ball despite Ben Tapuai’s best efforts to move the ball wide.
Then, in the 33rd minute, Chamberlain spotted a gap and put the hammer down. Outside of him was Volmink and the winger had the gas to score and put the Sharks ahead.
Then after the break, the Sharks chose to take their time to get into their stride and they were duly punished by the visitors.
From a rolling maul, Gordon crossed the whitewash and the Warriors were within one point of the Sharks.
The visitors though were waylaid by flyhalf Tom Jordan’s boot as he’d missed the conversion, along with a straight-forward penalty attempt in the 25th minute.
Chamberlain was far better served by his boot, but it was through Volmink that the Sharks again grabbed the lead.
This time, it was through a flowing backline move that saw Fassi shovel off an excellent pass to Volmink, who beat the cover defence to score in the 52nd minute.
Chamberlain missed this conversion, but nailed a 56th-minute penalty and converted Bongi Mbonambi’s 61st-minute try.
By now, the Sharks were leading 28-12 and only then did they exert a level of control that was befitting of their quality.
Also, that had a lot to do with their star Boks in the form of Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche coming on.
With how the Sharks’ defence has conducted itself, it’s difficult to say whether the door has been closed on a game.
When Fassi then scored from a smart Jaden Hendrikse pass in the 69th minute, only then there was a sigh of match-winning relief.
Then they started to show off with regular surges into the Warriors’ 22 that required loose passes and illegal ruck tactics for them to be stemmed.
After yards and yards of endeavour, the Sharks eventually scored their fifth try when the industrious Werner Kok was on the end of Chamberlain’s crosskick to seal what eventually became a reasonably comprehensive win
Scorers:
Sharks: (13) 40
Tries: Anthony Volmink (2), Bongi Mbonambi, Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok
Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3)
Penalties: Chamberlain (3)
Warriors: (7) 12
Tries: Tom Gordon (2)
Conversion: Tom Jordan
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