Sharks power to crucial win
26 May 2012
JON CARDINELLI watched the Sharks manhandle the Stormers in their 25-20 victory at Kings Park on Saturday.
The scoreline will suggest the visitors were in the contest until the final whistle, and it does not do the Sharks justice. The hosts were in control for 60 minutes of this match, and it took a bit of luck and one particularly bad call from the referee to allow the Stormers to come close to completing a comeback win.
The Stormers went into this game as underdogs, and they certainly looked the part in the early stages. It didn’t help that Siya Kolisi, one of their primary ball-carriers and most physical defenders, withdrew before the start with injury. It didn’t help that a number of their forwards were coming into this game fatigued. They were always there for the taking.
The first half belonged to the Sharks forwards, as they systematically destroyed their Stormers counterparts. Their scrum pulverised that of the Stormers, with Jebb Sinclair battling to control the ball at the back of a rapidly retreating pack.
The Sharks were superior at collisions, hammering the Stormers back on defence and gaining good ground on attack. Bismarck du Plessis along with loosies like Keegan Daniel and Marcell Coetzee had a productive match on the ground, while Willem Alberts turned in a ball-carrying performance that suggests he is starting to get back to his tackle-busting best.
If you can break tackles, that is if you can compromise a defensive unit like that of the Stormers, you must be doing something right.
It was a complete performance by the Sharks in the first 40, with backs combining with forwards to ensure the hosts went to the break with a 20-6 lead.
Charl McLeod and Freddie Michalak took good options in the halfback positions, and the decision to start Pat Lambie at fullback also proved inspired. Not only did he contribute strongly with ball in hand, but proved a vital cog in the Sharks’ tactical kicking machine.
Michalak scored the Sharks’ first try, but it was during the period before and after half-time that the hosts did the most damage. Having set the forward platform, a feat that included disrupting the much vaunted Stormers lineout, they started to grow in confidence.
Daniel was a threat off the back of the scrum and general play, and it was from a big set piece where he first created the go-forward. After Alberts had carried the ball to within an inch of the tryline, Daniel finished.
The tired Stormers forwards battled to prevent the Sharks from bossing the breakdowns, and while Du Plessis weighed in with some important steals in his own 22, it was also a pilfer that sparked the Sharks’ third try. Coetzee played a crucial part in the build up, getting a magical pass away to Lwazi Mvovo who obliged with an equally magical finish.
At 25-6, the Sharks should have rammed the advantage home. They looked well on course to becoming the first team in 2012 to pick up a four-try bonus point against the Stormers. They were also keeping the Stormers’ attack honest, although for the majority of the first half, the visitors’ attack was hardly a threat.
But then in the 52nd minute, Michalak made a mistake, throwing a speculative pass that failed to find its intended target. The ball bounced along the turf before being snapped up by Gio Aplon, who raced 60m to score.
While Aplon’s try was down to a Sharks’ mistake, the Stormers drew confidence from the seven-pointer. They began to build towards the Sharks tryline, although some determined Sharks defence kept them at bay.
The Sharks were not as dominant up front in the final 20 minutes, and the decision by Stormers coach Allister Coetzee to empty his bench had the desired effect. The Stormers began to put more pressure on the Sharks at the breakdown, and when they finally got the ball back from a set piece, Jean de Villiers played Aplon on a short ball and the fullback glided past several defenders for another thrilling score.
De Villiers’s pass to Aplon was clearly forward, but neither referee Jaco Peyper nor his assistants picked it up, and so the Stormers’ second try stood. Peter Grant converted to bring the Stormers closer at 25-20, and with seven minutes to play, the visitors were within striking distance.
The Sharks, however, did well to close the game out in the dying stages. This result takes them back into the top six and given the momentum they’ve picked up in recent weeks you’d have to say they are strong play-off contenders.
The Stormers’ late surge ensured they picked up a losing bonus point. Considering their depleted stocks up front and that they were at one stage some 19 points behind, one log point is a fair return.
1,139 Comments
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27 May 2012, 19:28 pm
Well that’s that – now for the ladies in pink – time for Sharks well wishes are over. Will the Bulls lose three on the trot? You bet your pink ****
27 May 2012, 19:29 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-844:
it’s not just the sharks bud… seems all south african teams and captains let bad calls get to them… don’t think i can recall a captain just accepting the ref’s call and getting on with it… always seem to need to show they disagree… the teams take their cue from him… instead of on-field commiserations the captains should just tell his team it’s cool… get it out of their minds… refocus and get on with the game…
as naas always said… play in such a way that the ref simply can’t be part of the game equation… yes… a tough ask… but until we learn to handle that we’ll always be held back by it…
27 May 2012, 19:31 pm
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-848: haha, the sharks will regret the bonus point gifted from a forward pass?
we regret it already
but how bout all those bonus pts the stormers didnt rack up on their winning streak?
you knowm the ones for scoring FOUR tries?
imo the stormers were there for the culling but the sharks lost focus and went into their shells after frenchie GIFTED the stormers a try via aplon.
lets face it, its not as if the stormers looked threatening try wise all game barring the one maul which was sent to touch.
that would worry me more as a stormers supporter than finding ways to excuse a loss because its not an isolated trend is it now?
27 May 2012, 19:32 pm
SA’s are traditionally conservative people by nature.. and don’t have the ability to drive any psychological advantage home.. That’s why most our sportsmen never amount to much on an individual one on one basis.. and tend to choke up on the big stage..
Think Keven Curren at Wimbledon
Gerrie Coetsee in the boxing arena
Ernie Els needed a head shrink to try sort his lack of finishing mental edge.
Plenty our athletes were close to world standard but only one or two ever got to top dog stakes.. Mulaudzi and Sepeng only ones ever to challenge on the track at high stakes athletics .. or way back Paul Nash and March Fiasconaro
We may have some strong bodies in our armory but relatively weak minds when it comes to pulling out some finishing killer instinct
27 May 2012, 19:36 pm
Sharks are our daddy’s? After winning one from four? Sounds like we’re back to the beginning of the season again. The Sharks are going to go on and win the competition from here – they’re gonna win all their games with BP’s and win the S15 by 40+.
27 May 2012, 19:38 pm
in fact, after last nights game, the sharks may have provided the template for other teams to knock the stormers over.
let me be clear, i am talking about the bulls and cheetahs here.
dominate the collisions, play penalty free rugby and spend as much time in the stormers half as possible.
the bulls will come at the stormers VERY hard upfront. VERY hard.
sure, the bulls front row is not as good as the sharks front row but i thiink the defo shade the sharks in the lineouts and that cant be great news for a stormers fan surely?
i also think morne steyn will tactically outkick grant.
now zane isnt as sharp at the back as lambie so if joe p is back or gio gets room to run or kick the bulls could have trouble but once again, the bulls backrow will be vastly superior to the makeshift backrow of the stormers so expect the rucks to swing he game the bulls way.
travel (bulls) may well play a part and i will wait until the full team sheets come out before saying with certainty the bulls will win but it looks like they are favourites for this weeks game imo.
27 May 2012, 19:39 pm
Gary Player certainly had/has the right mental stuff…
maybe he should be consulted…
27 May 2012, 19:39 pm
@ufo(ufo)-852: Nice post UFO. Maybe this starts at primary school level where the competition is as big as CC rugby. Parents start this trend by being to comprtitive and the win at all costs attitude?? Just a thought.
27 May 2012, 19:40 pm
Sharks didn’t go “into their shells”……….Stormers took control and dominated territory and possession in the second half. They paid the price for a poor second quarter in the first half.
27 May 2012, 19:42 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-856:
hehehe ranger…
that’s pretty much a template for any team to beat any team…!
thing is, it’s easy for us barstool boffins to talk about… quite another thing to implement it when you have 15 opposing players trying to do exactly the same to you…
27 May 2012, 19:43 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-850:
@Pee Wee(Pee Wee)-855: cmon now. doggy has a purpose designed nic and thats fine, its his perogative.
simply having a laugh with him like he is having with us.
dont be so sensitive.
27 May 2012, 19:45 pm
Stormers got as good a chance as Sharks or Bulls of finishing top this year.. depends how the players are handled here on out
Our youngsters still perhaps a season away from rounding off their strengths and their promise, they been extended perhaps a bridge too far through the strenuous phase of the competition and now need to get conditioned and managed through the business end of the comp.
Sharks got more depth through their ranks which comes through few more players with battle hardened hard edge seasoned experience
We put Bulls away next week and its anybodies to win from there on out.
27 May 2012, 19:47 pm
@optiplay(optiplay)-858: It does start at school, kids should be mentally prepared and grow with it
27 May 2012, 19:47 pm
Hello Skop @ 854.Trust you r well.What is the solution.National psychiatrist?
I think u r right.But lets please (without provincial bias,because the problem is
bigger than that.come )to a ratonal answer.
27 May 2012, 19:47 pm
@optiplay(optiplay)-858:
shot bud…
yeah… think it must start at school level for it to be so pervasive throughout sa rugby and sport…
what to do about it though…? i like to offer ideas and possible solutions… not just criticize… but in this case i simply don’t know how or what to do to sort this out…
will be a problem for us until we learn how to be mentally ruthless… and not talking about dirty play obviously… just to get on top and then piling on the pressure until the opposition is dead and buried (figuratively) and then to continue just as ruthlessly until the final whistle…
27 May 2012, 19:47 pm
@ufo(ufo)-860: sure ufo it is a normal template but the stormers are tottering around looking fragile imo.
bekker is certainly a better lock than anything we have, as is etzebeth imo, but when keegan starts taking lineout ball off your lot then you have to wonder if the stormers locks are 100%?
and after the pounding your pack took in the scrums, questions will be asked if the stormers players have taken too much punishment with their defensive gameplan.
i am not trying to be provacative, simply saying that i think the bulls forwards may be licking their lips.
27 May 2012, 19:48 pm
Playing a number 2 at 6 and getting bonus point out of all that mess showed the character of this Stormers team.The Sharks,i believe,played their final and the Stormers still got in five of them.I would be a bit worried as a Sharks fan that they could not put to sword a very depleted Stormers team.Fifth or sixth place will be as good as it gets for the Sharks….and that will mean tickets for them.Enjoy the moment Sharks fans because those good days are coming to an end soon.
27 May 2012, 19:49 pm
Me sensitive?
Nooit! My mouth will be big even if the Stormers lose all their games in the comp. That’s just me. Stormers will seal their home semi after the break. Sharks and Bulls can fight it out for 2nd spot. Come to think of it the Bulls are in big k@k if they lose this coming weekend! They can’t afford to lose to Stormers or Sharks now. Hee hee hee
27 May 2012, 19:50 pm
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-867: yes yes, now its a “depleted” side.
sing my little budgie, i like it
27 May 2012, 19:50 pm
anyway guys… things to do… just wanted to make that observation…
congratulations again to the sharks and their supporters for a great win…
tomorrow we start all over…
cheers…
27 May 2012, 19:50 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-849: Nope. I AM, because certain others ARE.
27 May 2012, 19:51 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-853: Howzit Ranger,
That is exactly what I said after Freddie threw that bad pass into the hands of Aplon and gifted him a try for the Stormers. Knew right then it could cost us, thought straight away we will lose focus. We were all over them at that stage and thought here comes another Sharks try. Then in a flash there was Aplon off of a try. A team loses all momentum when that happens. It turned from then.
Also a forward pass that you could see with one eye? Come on how can Peyper not have seen that? Ridiculous really. To be fair the game should have ended on 25 -13. Refs have to be dropped for a game or two if they mess up. Something has to change to get better reffing. Maybe a challenge like they do in cricket, where the captain can ask the ref to go upstairs. That could work too. It sure has sorted out many Umpires out in the cricket getting it wrong.
Anyhow proud of our boys. The first 55min was brilliant from them.
27 May 2012, 19:52 pm
@ufo(ufo)-870: Thanks ufo.
27 May 2012, 19:56 pm
Sharks were lucky last night they just don’t realize exactly how lucky they were.. they reckon they dominated in every phase of the game.. Stormers were all over them like a rash first stanzas until one or two high bombs bounced right..
Sharks got lucky.. all three tries were result of unnecessary turnovers and against run of play..
Stormers weren’t far off from scoring first.. and early in second half also came mighty close with Fourie missing out narrowly twice..
Sharks reckon it was a runaway victory.. well all three tries made it look like it was that but Sharks know that it hedged on a knife edge till the lucky bounce of the ball took the game away..
And Stormers came back with couple surprises .. intercept tries and all.. check the stats who had more territory and possession..
We lost too many line outs and didn’t collect the high bombs .. thats where we gave the game away.. also last try was Van Den Heever coughing it up to Coetsee who put Mvovo away.. so that cancelled out the poor pass from Michalak
Sharks took their opportunities and finished better through first half and applied more pressure through the tight phases .. otherwise on another day with the ball not bouncing into Sharkies hands.. could have been a different result.. Stormers scored first instead of gifting that early try from poor fielding in center field from a Michalak or Mcleod high bomb .. and game could have gone quite another way.
27 May 2012, 19:56 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-866:
hehehe…
of course ranger… stormers are k@k… we’ve won all our games through luck and biased refs… are players are useless… they are cowards… our coach is a fool… our game plan is based on fear… nothing else to it… one game has set the trend and we’re bound to tumble down the log…
this you, and others, have been telling us every weekend all season…
i’m not going to try and change your mind… when you’re right you’re right…
enjoy your win…
now really have to go…
cheers…
27 May 2012, 19:57 pm
@Puma(Puma)-873:
welcome bud…
cheers…
27 May 2012, 19:59 pm
Lambie must be the slowest 15 I have seen for a while and even makes dikgat Frans Steyn looking like an express train.He had about four metres on Aplon for the cross tackle and ended up twenty metres behind him.
27 May 2012, 20:00 pm
@Pee Wee(Pee Wee)-868: well big up to you, keep true to your side heehee
@ufo(ufo)-870: cheers ufo, go well bud.
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-871: woof!
@Puma(Puma)-872: ag peyper had an ok game imo, the forward pass was a shocker but the game unfolds at such pace so i will just be happy with the win.
fortress KINGS PARK!
27 May 2012, 20:00 pm
Ranger – you’re a clever boy – you should know that a lock is only as good as the hooker that throws the ball in at lineup time. Liebenberg was poor last night. No height on his delivery – once they threw at number two they secured all their ball. It happens. Like it did countless times this season for the two Sharks locks.
27 May 2012, 20:00 pm
@fitzella(fritz ellenbogen)-874: Why can’t you ever be gracious in defeat skop? Why is there a excuse from you all the time? Just about all the Stormer supporters have said well done to the Sharks here.
27 May 2012, 20:01 pm
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-877:
i have heard this “lambie is slow” refrain from stormers fans all day.
if thats all you took from the game then hey, ok!
lambie is slow, its all better now see?
27 May 2012, 20:01 pm
@Pee Wee(Pee Wee)-868: Well we should have this attitude. Look at some of these Sharks geezers. 1 Win out of 3 against us in the last 2 years and they are ready to launch into the Superugby elite……
27 May 2012, 20:02 pm
but is lambie slower than peter grant?
27 May 2012, 20:02 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-878: Yip feel good about our win too. Still a tough road from here on. Many on our tail chasing. One slip up and we out of it from here.
27 May 2012, 20:05 pm
@Pee Wee(Pee Wee)-879: so why throw to the back then?
and are you saying the stormers can only take ball at no 2?
shhhhhh, dont tell the bulls, flip and juandre like a challenge.
@fitzella(fritz ellenbogen)-874: all i read there was “we lost”
27 May 2012, 20:06 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-882: cmon now woof, who said anything like that?
we are in the race, but there is still plenty of ground to cover.
see?
27 May 2012, 20:08 pm
@stormerforlife1(stormerforlife1)-877: Yes he is, I have baptized him: Lang Oor Lambie. (Lang oor is what I call a donkey)
27 May 2012, 20:08 pm
@Puma(Puma)-884: yup.
it actually benefits us if the stormers win next week ONLY if we beat the bulls in durbs.
a big ask.
we are set for an emotional rollercoaster, thats why we love sport so much.
27 May 2012, 20:08 pm
The Stormers missed the decisiveness of Pietersen at the back in dealing with the high balls.I give credit to the Sharks for exploiting that weakness but they surely would not have got so lucky with that try with the rock, Pietersen at the back.
27 May 2012, 20:09 pm
@Puma(Puma)-880: Brudda now you already know the answer to the question you pose him
27 May 2012, 20:09 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-878: Your BARK is bigger than your bite.
27 May 2012, 20:09 pm
@ryecatcher(ryecatcher)-864:
Its a traditional problem in SA sport environments.. our swimmers do well when they go to USA and get trained at the high level of professional input there..
Our teams including Boks and cricketers tend to choke on the big stage unless they are given sufficient psychological prep and bolster by the coaching and conditioning people behind the team.
Thats why we choked couple times in CWC .. our rugby is perhaps our biggest sporting asset nationally where Bok rugby is traditionally a huge stronghold of talent through being fostered right through the school system
We maybe train the kids to be brutal and physical.. but I don’t think we have enough mental strength psychological mentoring and self belief built into the mental side of the sport.
That why in individual type sports our top athletes and competitors don’t kick on to the highest level unless perhaps at golf.
27 May 2012, 20:09 pm
Have the Chiefs and Stormers played each other this year?
Do they not play each other in the long-winded league stage?
If the latter, what type of league system is this where two likely finalists do not meet each other at all?
Bulls and Sharks played all the likely other potential finalists it seems.
With the love SBW has for the Stormers in Cape Town or Kiwiland, everyone knows how that encounter is likely to end.
As for the wailing about injuries, no team was worst affected than the Reds, right from the start of the competition(at least 10 international Reds were absent until recently).
27 May 2012, 20:09 pm
ok guys, i am out.
stormers, your team is still awesome, about as good as the sharks…almost
have a good week people!
27 May 2012, 20:11 pm
Ranger most teams want variation to perform moves at lineout time. If it doesn’t work try something else! That’s just what they did!
27 May 2012, 20:12 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-886: Who said anything like that you ask? You already know the answer. I am glad to see though, that you were not one of the Sharkettes who instead of celebrating the victory, spent hours whinging about the ref…….Who whinges about the ref when their team wins? I reckon you know the answer to that one as well …..
27 May 2012, 20:14 pm
@Jokerstotheright(Mostofyou)-893: Joker, the Sharks was even worse off, forst 9 weeks they were without 11 players and 4 others that missed a few weeks here and there
, again it should be an excuse, but it seems some of the stormer supporters in here reckon they allowed these excuses
27 May 2012, 20:16 pm
DSTV are proud to announce our new channel guide as of Friday 26 May.
– Sharks games will be broadcasted on Supersport as it is the channel of champions,
– Stormers on Discovery Channel,
– Cheetahs on History Channel,
– Be sure to catch Lions on Comedy Central,
– Blue Bulls on fashion tv.
27 May 2012, 20:16 pm
Sharks supporters complaining about the ref since yesterday and I even see our esteemed friend Sharkslover aka Tyrone Jacoby moaning and bitching like a girl on the News24 rugby forum about it.If Peyper had done his job as set out by Sanzar he should have carded the Sharks for constant infringement in the second half.
27 May 2012, 20:18 pm
@sharks_lover(sharks_lover)-890: I know..haha. Should not have bothered.
Just looking at the chasing pack. Thought Reds could over take us but no they can not. Bye/Rebs/Landers/Tahs. max 19 points. They on 40 right now. Could land up on 59.
Landers doubt they will have enough in them to beat: Saders/Chiefs/Reds then a bye
Have not looked who Canes have to play. They on 40 points. Going to check quick. Think that is the only chasing pack. Brumbies should beat the Reds to top the Aussie conference. They should win all their remaining games. Rebs/Force/Tahs/Blues
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