Desperate Sharks edge Canberra scrap
31 Mar 2012
JON CARDINELLI reports that guts ultimately proved more valuable than accuracy in an important 29-26 win for Sharks over the Brumbies.
Regardless of a reflection that will reveal both teams were guilty of stupid mistakes, the upshot is that the Sharks have recorded a bonus-point victory in a city where they haven’t won since 1998. There is plenty to criticise and plenty to laud, but there’s no getting round this fact.
The result ensures the Sharks remain in the Super Rugby race after a string of inconsistent showings. They fell short against the Waratahs last week and desperately needed this win to keep them in the hunt. They were never in control in Canberra and the problems in their game still persist, but for the moment they will savour a performance that has brought them five log points and a crucial win Down Under.
Moving forward, though, they will need to address a few shortcomings that continue to hamper their ability to dominate a match.
Indeed it was their ability to stifle the Brumbies at the breakdown and force some telling turnovers that won them the game. Jake White will be livid with his players for coughing up possession whenever the hosts ventured into the Sharks’ 22. In these pressure situations, the Sharks prevailed, showing incredible tenacity as well as an accuracy that was absent from many other areas of their game.
It may seem harsh to criticise an attack that scored four tries against what is a good Brumbies defence, but many of these tries were created from turnover ball.
There were moments of clear desperation that garnered points, such as when Odwa Ndungane found himself defending against three Brumbies players and still managed to snaffle an intercept that led to a try. In the second half, there was a brilliant breakdown turnover on the Sharks tryline that was quickly shifted wide, and Lwazi Mvovo produced a thrilling finish to secure the bonus-point try.
The accurate boot of Freddie Michalak also ensured that the Sharks turned three of their four tries into seven-pointers. And yet, that high-try count is misleading, as the Sharks battled to control possession for much of the game.
Not for the first time in 2012, their failure to set a good platform before unleashing the backs led to some frantic play. And six rounds into the competition, there still seems to be a lack of synergy that is hampering their attacking execution.
Sharks fans will point to the scoreboard and denounce these claims, but it must be noted just how many opportunities the Brumbies botched on Saturday. Their first try was scored through fullback Jesse Mogg, who initially profited from a forward pass and then showed a superb piece of individual skill to finish. Between that point and just seconds before full time, the Brumbies enjoyed many more opportunities but were undone by turnovers.
When they had a chance to counter-attack, they were also guilty of silly mistakes and poor decisions. The Sharks kicked terribly out of hand, but unfortunately for the hosts, the Brumbies just could not capitalise. It is surely something White will want to address with this young and inexperienced side.
For the Sharks, it’s time to start putting some complete performances together. Like the win against the Reds two weeks previously, this result in Canberra highlighted the guts and tenacity that runs through the side, but they need to be honest about where they are falling short, they need to start executing efficiently if they are to build on a solid start to their Australasian tour.
They lost the match against the Waratahs in the final minutes, and so nearly relinquished a 10-point lead in the dying stages of the clash against the Brumbies. It took a Brumbies knock-on in the final play for the Sharks to escape with the spoils.
The scoreboard may tell a different story, but the Sharks still have a long way to go if they are going to topple the better teams.
210 Comments
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31 Mar 2012, 12:35 pm
Thinus delport is actually a bladdy good commentator. He speaks concisely too. He and fitzy are a bladdy good commentary team.
31 Mar 2012, 12:36 pm
@CAPECRUSADER(CAPECRUSADER)-96: ag stop being such a girl you little troll, its pathetic.
31 Mar 2012, 12:46 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-99:hear hear
31 Mar 2012, 12:48 pm
“Their only try was scored through fullback Jesse Mogg, who first profited from a forward pass and then showed a brilliant piece of individual skill to finish. ”
JC, with respect, its comments like this that render the rest of your article meaningless . The brumbies scored two tries and whilst you bemoan the sharks performance you seem to be happy to ignore the fact that the brumboes are leading the aussie conference and rightly so?
i will happily take the first sharks win in canberra since 1998 thanks.
31 Mar 2012, 12:51 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-103: haha howdy transie.
what amuses me is that the laddie talks in definitives as though his opinions, clouded by their obvious emotional bias, are fact.
the only fact is that his opinions are pretty humourous.
31 Mar 2012, 12:51 pm
@CAPECRUSADER(CAPECRUSADER)-96: Take out an atlas or a map – then try and figure out where on this planet you find yourself. Then ask yourself who deserves a pwoosklap. Blerrie Collegians mentality.
31 Mar 2012, 12:51 pm
Wow heart attack stuff!!! The frog was absolute ****!! Alucard u know fckall about rugby!! Go back to your hole!
31 Mar 2012, 12:53 pm
i think jpp is making an outstanding transition to 13.
sure, his rush led to the brumbies try (MAYBE he can be solely blamed, maybe) but if it had come off he would have trapped the brumbies miles behind the advantage line and may have led to a try.
nothing ventured…..
jpp is an amazing rugby player.
31 Mar 2012, 12:54 pm
Ranger I agree but to me the difference has been Whithead!! Good purchase!
31 Mar 2012, 12:54 pm
I mean Whitehead!
31 Mar 2012, 12:56 pm
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-107: haha, alucard hates lambie so he had to punt freddie even though freddie himself will want to forget this performance.
cognitive dissonance, a terminal case.
go force!
31 Mar 2012, 12:57 pm
He is pathetic!! Sharks missed Lambie big time! But will take the win!!
31 Mar 2012, 12:58 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-108:
Hasn’t done alot at international level though, good super player.
31 Mar 2012, 12:59 pm
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-109: well whitehead wasnt wonderful tonight but then again when your flyhalf and scrumhalf pass every ball above your head, behind you or onto the floor in front of you its hard to distribute effectively i suppose.
haha, reds getting a hammering. lovely to see the aussie conference is even weaker now that the rebs are involved. no free ride this year reds.
31 Mar 2012, 13:01 pm
Yeah the passing from the halfbacks was rubbish!! The Force are playing well!! Hope they win!!
31 Mar 2012, 13:02 pm
@greentea(greentea)-113: whaaat?
he has been an incumbent bok since he turned 20?
Do you really think the kick chase game we played for the last 3 years helped jpp or habs?
think back to the time before div, you remember, when our backline scored tries?
expect a return under meyer.
31 Mar 2012, 13:03 pm
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-115: ja me too bud, haha mckenzie looks like he has had his toys taken away lol.
eina, the reds are being walloped so far.
31 Mar 2012, 13:05 pm
is it possible the bulls broke the reds mentally last week?
31 Mar 2012, 13:07 pm
The Bulls broke something! Reds still rattled!!
31 Mar 2012, 13:07 pm
the look on horwills face last week told a story.
31 Mar 2012, 13:08 pm
the aussie commentators led by cannon are willing the reds on lol.
31 Mar 2012, 13:09 pm
well played by the oke with the perm from due date.
31 Mar 2012, 13:11 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-116:
At international level I ‘ve rarely seen him beat a man on the outside and score a try against the big boys like say an Issy Dagg can and does.
Wouldn’t you hate being Meyer the whole nation pretends you lost because PDV was in charge, it was no different under White his record outside of the WC was excatly the same as PDV, clearly Meyer is a very good coach but he’s expected to change everything overnight and have the Bokke scoring fantastic backline tries, it ain’t going to happen.
31 Mar 2012, 13:12 pm
Kak title.
The Sharks were not desperate.
And neither did they edge it.
They were leading by 10 points until the last minute. Hardly an “edge”.
Good to win on tour and break the Canberra hoodoo.
Good to pick up the bonus point too. I mean, some other SA teams haven’t got a single bonus point yet.
Well done to the Cheetahs earlier. Now come on Lions!
31 Mar 2012, 13:14 pm
Lol. JPP is one of the better backline players in SA. Always amazes me how underrated he appears to be by most.
He has seemingly been a Bok for decades yet he is only 25.
31 Mar 2012, 13:14 pm
19-0? force
who woulda thunk it
31 Mar 2012, 13:15 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-125:
With respect thats not really saying much is it.
31 Mar 2012, 13:20 pm
@greentea(greentea)-123: lets wait and see shall we?
jpp is about the best defensive wing in world rugby and he runs lines that bryan never could, in fact he uses rugby acumen rather than pace alone and thats why he will still be a bok when bryan hangs up his boots.
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-125: ag i dont take it seriously any more when guys have a go at jpp. titles like “lazy, slow, defensively unsound etc etc” just make me laugh.
jpp was all over the park today, his workrate was simply awesome to see. that defensive clearance he tracked back for was sublime.
31 Mar 2012, 13:20 pm
@greentea(greentea)-127: Of course it is! Jaque Fourie, Frans Steyn, Jean De Villiers, Lwazi Mvovo , these are all fantastic backs. JPP stands head and shoulders amongst them. Stop being so pessimistic!
31 Mar 2012, 13:21 pm
@greentea(greentea)-127: expand on that statement for us please mr tea?
31 Mar 2012, 13:23 pm
because as far as i recall, jpp has a world cup, a tri nations, two cc’s and lacks only a superrugby title?
he has won in nz and often been a crucial if not deciding factor in a bok win such as the *** whupping we gave to england in 2008 at twickers on the eoyt (42-6, i was there that day, it was naaice).
31 Mar 2012, 13:25 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-131: I was also there that day. It was very naaice.
31 Mar 2012, 13:26 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-129: frans steyn and jpp as a midfield with lambie, viljoen and lwazi?
just need to get hoffman back and get sithole up to speed and thats a world class backline imo.
31 Mar 2012, 13:27 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-132:
but so very quiet for some reason lmao!
31 Mar 2012, 13:27 pm
After 3 years I am still not sure the sharks know what style of rugby they want to play.
31 Mar 2012, 13:27 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-133: yes, and put Odwa to pasture
Sithole is ready and waiting.
31 Mar 2012, 13:30 pm
i see samoa handed the blitzbokke a 38 point hiding.
wtf is the reason why with all the resources, player talent and money thrown at the 7′s setup, we cannot consistently compete with the top tier?
its disconcerting.
31 Mar 2012, 13:34 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-134:
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-136:
well done to your team. a vital win, i did not watch any rugby so far today so i cannot comment on any performances.
Ranger, well done in landing that big one too- where did you shoot it and at what depth? You seem to be on the way to stardom as a spearo
31 Mar 2012, 13:35 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-136: eish old odwa still has it in the kop, the guy is simply an outstanding rugby thinker, look at his intercept leading to a try and his break where he put viljoen away!
what was hilarious was listening to the kiwis led by kearns trying to pretend that odwa is a speedster instead of the slowest carthorse wing in superrugby lmao!
odwa will always be a sharks legend imo, he goes on the board with guys like jouba, teich, fyvie, smitty, mark andrews and dozens more stalwarts we will always remember (even cabous lmao!)
31 Mar 2012, 13:37 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-137:
Too many Orks quite simply…
31 Mar 2012, 13:39 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-139:
Cabous, lol, cool bloke, but only a journeyman as a winger.
Best Natal wingers ever (for me) was Cliffie Brown and Tony Watson.
31 Mar 2012, 13:42 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-138: haha, where did you hear about my queenie Robbo?
shot it in mozambique, paindaine which is near inhambane about 450 kms north of maputo. Was only about 10m deep but far out, diving off a fishing ski.
I am now the proud owner of a 1.3m Freedivers evo speargun! The owner of Freedivers gave it to me as he does with any spearo who shoots a world record with his gear.
its an awesome gun and i put a reel on it so i can hunt big couta, went off the bluff yesterday in about 20m of water but we were a bit late and the west came busting through so we didnt have any luck.
as for stardom, i am a hacker lol but i did come 5th out of 40 divers in our club cray comp last weekend. weighed a bug of 960 grams, the winning bug was 1.016 this year.
thats big for east coast kreef but yours are a lot bigger i think?
31 Mar 2012, 13:45 pm
neil penrose was a good wing aswell
31 Mar 2012, 13:47 pm
Sorry chaps was just making myself a pot of green tea, SA overall doesn’t have great backs the 1/4 against Aus highlighted that, JPP is a good player but as an attacking backline player at international level he comes up short.
31 Mar 2012, 13:47 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-141: haha, cabous profited from the **** muir and jeremy thompson combo quite nicely lol.
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-140: too many midgets imo.
31 Mar 2012, 13:47 pm
This Force game putting the Bulls win into perspective??
31 Mar 2012, 13:50 pm
@greentea(greentea)-144: no, this is not true bud.
what kind of green is that in your tea?
sa has incredible backs that are simply not used effectively.
i wont even bother naming them because…ag one name fdp? heard of him?
your statement seems to be an attempt at provocation, and thats just silly.
31 Mar 2012, 13:52 pm
@THE MAULER(THE MAULER)-146: ja maybe but remember the reds are probably even weaker this week with further injuries and more travel under their belts.
31 Mar 2012, 13:52 pm
Love it when ranger talks fish
31 Mar 2012, 13:53 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-147:
certainly not my intention to stir things up, SA has world class forwards and good backs is that not a fair reflection at present, lets take Morne Steyn for example good player won’t be remembered by many in 10 years time.
FDP was world class for 2 or 3 seasons no problem with that.
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