Sharks have blueprint to beat Stormers
23 Jul 2012
RYAN VREDE writes the Sharks are one of the few sides that exhibit the capacity to ask telling questions of the Stormers.
The magnitude of the occasion and the odds the Sharks overcame undoubtedly made their victory over the Reds at the weekend the best of their campaign. However, their path to the quarter-final was marked by some excellent showings, none more so than the 25-20 defeat of the Stormers at Kings Park in May.
The scoreline suggests a close encounter, but the Sharks were completely dominant for much of it, with the most notable feature of the performance the sustained accuracy in execution of key aspects of their game plan. Few sides have been able to trouble the Stormers defensively in the manner the Sharks did, and only the Rebels have also scored three tries against the Cape side in their league-phase matches.
The potency of their attack then will be a source of inspiration ahead of Saturday’s semi-final. Their launch platform was established through an industrious and physical gainline onslaught. Willem Alberts was prominent and effective with ball in hand, named Man of the Match for his unfailing ability to get over the advantage line. Their charge in this regard was amplified by the efforts of Bismarck du Plessis, Beast Mtawarira and Marcell Coetzee, among others.
Of particular interest will be to see whether Alberts is restored to the back row after the Sharks were forced to deploy him at lock in Brisbane. He excelled in the position in the aforementioned match and the one many respected rugby men, including Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer, feel he is best suited to. The Sharks, however, may be reluctant to tamper with their back row after the trio’s showing against the Reds. But with the Stormers demanding a more direct approach than the one they implemented against the Reds, Alberts may well be named at blindside flank, with either Coetzee or Ryan Kankowski dropping to the bench.
The Sharks’ excellence in the Durban showdown extended to their defensive resolve and, most pertinently, their discipline in that facet of play. The Stormers have engineered their ascent to the semi-finals primarily through pressure-creating phase play, with their goal-kickers then building their lead through penalties from the infringements they’ve forced. The Sharks cut them off at the source and indeed also managed to restrict them in the first meeting at Newlands, won 15-12 by the Stormers thanks to a 78th minute Peter Grant penalty.
Taxing travel and their almighty physical effort against the Reds means fatigue will be the Sharks’ biggest obstacle in their bid to replicate their success against the Stormers. There is no question they have the personnel and tactical intelligence. Whether they can rouse themselves to recapture the elements that facilitated their previous victory remains to be seen.
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125 Comments
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23 Jul 2012, 09:17 am
After all is said, this weekend’s match is going to be a cracker! Good luck to both teams, Although I do hope my beloved Sharks win
Let’s just hope both teams pitch up with a good attitude and make this match the good sporting spectacle we all want to see.
23 Jul 2012, 09:18 am
There is going to be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Ah well. It should be a great match. May the best team win.
23 Jul 2012, 09:19 am
Viva Chiefs vs Sharks… Viva!
Phansi Stormersaders vs Saders… Phansi!
Viva Phambili Viva
Viva amaSharks!
Phansi isitabani phansi
Phansi amaBreezers!
23 Jul 2012, 09:20 am
The Stormers and Sharks should make up 95% of the Bok squad anyhow.
23 Jul 2012, 09:22 am
@Tacitus-37: Reverting to it is better for South Africa that the Stormers lose is the ultimate, ‘I would rather chew my arm off, than give the Stormers any credit whatsoever’ move imaginable.
Fact remains, if fit, the Stormers would probably have had Burger, De Villiers, Habana Vermeulen, Etsebeth and Bekker in the Boks’ starting XV, leaving the Sharks with Dup x 2, Beast, Steyn and Pietersen. In other words, 6 to 5, so basically what is your point? Get off it mate, sour grapes for another season or so, and maybe the Bullies will recover, no need to express your poor attitude around here that long…
23 Jul 2012, 09:23 am
@Heavens Game-47: So the Stormers this year won 14 / 16 games due to the ref? well that settles it then.. by that kind of stat the Stormers would not neet to pitch.. walsh will take if for them….
Grow up… The stormers have the best defense in the comp and it is great to watch them smack back attackers and dominate other teams through shear force!! i will be the first to admit, they do need to sharpen their attacking play.. if they get that right they will be unstoppable!!
23 Jul 2012, 09:23 am
Sportingbet currently has Stormers with a -3 handicap, offering 6/4 odds on a Sharks win.
I think it would be worthwhile putting money on the Sharks at those odds…will the Sharks supporters back up their team?
23 Jul 2012, 09:24 am
Lambie
JP
Hougaard
De Villiers
Steyn
Goosen/Lambie/Morne Steyn
Ruan Pienaar
Kankowski
Alberts
Coetsee
Juandre
Eben
Sharks front row.
Hmmm. I count 2 Stormers in that team…
23 Jul 2012, 09:25 am
@Tacitus-58:
What, no Spies?
23 Jul 2012, 09:26 am
The Sharks are still up against it… Stormers at home are very difficult to beat… Stormers favourites by a mile… Sharks happy to be underdogs though… If the Stormers win I hope they win the Comp… Of course I want my Sharks to win it all though…
23 Jul 2012, 09:26 am
@Tacitus-58: Then is probably won’t be the Stormers’ fault if that team loses… happy day…
23 Jul 2012, 09:27 am
I am actuall yvery glad to have seen the sharks beat the reds.. cause me thinks that Saders team is one daunting task at the moment.. They simply showed the bulls how to play in a knock out game. For the life of me I cannot ynderstand the kicking in the last 10 minutes when you are 1- – 15 points behind… Sad really..
So ja I play the sharks anyday before I face the saders…
23 Jul 2012, 09:28 am
@Tacitus-58: I would have Bekkker ahead of Juandre. Bekker is getting back to his best form and Juandre was **** on Saturday. Missed many tackles. Quite embarassing for a Bok lock to miss tackles.
23 Jul 2012, 09:29 am
Congrats to Sharks, depending on your attitude I believe you have the team to do it, saying that, the attitude of Strompies was also very good so far, but like the Bulls I think their scrums are going to be their downfall.
To the Bulls you were disapointing, it seems your hunger to win was not there, blantant flaws in game plan and in players form were ignored the whole year. We absorb a lot of critisism from fellow bloggers with our blind support to you, in return we would expect you to give us the same, this year I can say, you did not give us what we deserve, your best.
23 Jul 2012, 09:29 am
this HG doos has become the sharks equivelllent of G10, an irritating childish same old same old plonker!
……..
Oh ja……….faaking smiley
23 Jul 2012, 09:30 am
@Tacitus-58: So if hougard play k@k for the season he moves to centre?
And if Morne is k@k for the season you bracket him with Goosen?
And all the Sudden a light Kanko is better than Vermeulen? Bet your coach HM love a smaller player above a bigger one..
Juandre above bekker? You really have lost the plot Tac!
23 Jul 2012, 09:34 am
@capebull-64: I commend you capebull.. we probably all feel the same way.. I sometimes wonder if these players realise how much flak we take as supporters for our teams?
We wear our hearts on our sleeves and back them everytime, and then you get a game like saturday when it looked like every bull wanted to be subbed and sit on the bench… not on!1
dewald Potgieter played his heart out for me.. the other Potgieter was shown up for the useless player he is. Spies did nothing to warrant bok selection.
Neither did Meisiekind, Steyn, or even my favourite bulls player Hougaard…. sad..
23 Jul 2012, 09:36 am
@THE MAULER-60: you see my optimism in the sharks was vindicated
i told you sharks by plenty
23 Jul 2012, 09:38 am
Ok. So the general consensus round here is the Sharks will wipe the floor with the Stormers (and if they don’t, they always have the travel excuse to fall back on).
23 Jul 2012, 09:40 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-69:
BOOM!
23 Jul 2012, 09:41 am
@Provvas-50: Other than a home game for the final, which is no doubt an advantage and I concede that…. why oh why are the Stormers “the SA team with the best chance to win the comp”…
To help you, lets break this down…
1. The most glaring difference between the two teams was that the Stormers D was more superior throughout the comp… However there is no doubt the Sharks D is now fixed… Evidence – see second half of the game away to the Reds. That D will put the Stormers to shame… (I suspect since the arrival of Frans and the experience of the Sharks players at the Bok camps and England series they have learnt a few tricks)
2. Another glaring difference is the ability of the Sharks to score tries. And the form of JPP – the best 14 in World Rugby at the moment. The Stormers have not fixed this – the way they play the game precludes them from doing this.
3. Another difference is the superiority of Stormers at lineout time… The emergence of Kanko as a roving lineout threat goes some way to coming close to parity… Liebenburg and Fourie can also be inconsistent at throw ins.
4. The first time Stormers played the Sharks this year was when Alberts was decidedly off form, Fred was playing SH, if I remember correctly and also before the emergence of a decent centre pairing which the Sharks now have.
5. Peter Grant and Joe Peterson’s kicking success is 80%+…. Newsflash, Freddy the Frenchman is 80% + too… And Lambie is also an option.
What we see here is a team that has evolved and improved throughout the season vs a team that has stagnated at best and ever so imperceptibly gone backwards…
Sharks vs Stormers
Its Evolution vs Dead End…
And dead end isnt the “the SA team with the best chance to win the comp”… Yes homeground is a huge advantage but a hostile or even neutral ref can nullify this just for a start…
23 Jul 2012, 09:41 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-69: consensus by whom??
BY the way?? it matters not who says what, time will tell and may the best team win…
23 Jul 2012, 09:43 am
There’s a new thread from Keo, more suited to this discussion.
23 Jul 2012, 09:44 am
@Tacitus-58: That team doesn’t exist. I’ll go one better – the entire Bulls side – not a Stormer in there anywhere. And your point is?
23 Jul 2012, 09:45 am
Anybody :=> If the Sharks win i take it they will then have to go back to austalasia for the final?
If Stormers win do they get a home final?
23 Jul 2012, 09:45 am
@Tacitus-58: Wow, that’s a k@k team. Are you HM?
23 Jul 2012, 09:45 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-69: yes, and the Stormer have no excuses if they lose plus the conference “title” is meaningless
BOOM
23 Jul 2012, 09:47 am
trans – If the Sharks win i take it they will then have to go back to austalasia for the final?
If Stormers win do they get a home final?
23 Jul 2012, 09:47 am
@race of tan-78: @race of tan-75: yes on both counts…sharks finished 6th so they’ll have to go to either hamilton of christchurch, stormers finished first guaranteeing them a home final if they win their semi.
23 Jul 2012, 09:50 am
@WP Till I Die-70: We have no chance I’m afraid. I am donating my semi-final tickets to my Sharks supporting IT midget, Noel, as there is obviously no point in attending the game (if you are a Stormer fan of course).
I will grant Noel the right to ^5 with his bruvvas on Castle Lawns, jitterbug down Newlands walk with his boerie roll and raise his little arms in a powerful air punch as the all conquering Sharks smash the decidedly average and undeserving Stormers. Yes, all hope is lost. Why? Because the Sharks fans say so, because Keo says so, because all the scribes in Australia/NZ and the greater SA say so…..
I’m going to weep in the corner for a minute.
23 Jul 2012, 09:50 am
@Heavens Game-71: On paper and with what you say , yes the Sharks should win Saturday.
Fact is , that Strompies have won a lot of games , they should have lost .. that makes them dangerous, they have won many ugly games, their game plan is ugly , but their attitude is 150%, for me attitude is more inportant than ability and skill
23 Jul 2012, 09:51 am
Transie great call lol! How confident are you for this weekend??
23 Jul 2012, 09:53 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-80:
Air punching is a stormers patent.
So is fist pumping, but that’s another story.
23 Jul 2012, 09:54 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-80:
Indeed. The only reason I’ll be going is the corporate hospitality, free drinks and food.
I won’t be watching the game, I mean what is the point? Sharks have this fully wrapped up.
They only need to pitch up. Stormers have no chance.
BOOM!
23 Jul 2012, 09:54 am
Salute to King Hash and King Ernie.
An Aussie chokes and the Poms implode.
It doesn’t get better than that.
23 Jul 2012, 09:55 am
trans – The Sharkies do this every year, start very poor and then kick into gear, this year they managed to creep into the play offs.
I feel their style of rugby is what the Boks should go for, but i fear HM will stick to Bull print.
Saders are amazing beat the bulls at their own game.
Can the Sharkies break the mighty Stormers defense? What a game this will be!!!
23 Jul 2012, 09:57 am
@WP Till I Die-84:
Jissus.
you are such a legend.
23 Jul 2012, 09:59 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-87:
The one and only.
BOOM!
23 Jul 2012, 09:59 am
@Sasuke-63:
Juandre has been taking tackling tips from Britney Spies.
23 Jul 2012, 10:00 am
I mean chop.
23 Jul 2012, 10:01 am
@capebull-81: Yes… granted… But I saw no lack of attitude from the Sharks against the Reds…
Indeed, I have seen no lack of attitude from the Sharks for the last 3 games, which lets not forget, have been knockout (or final) games for the Sharks in their own right…
Yes, the Sharks had Homeground adv for the previous two, but they also had to score 4 tries to get a BP win to even get through…
Now, a one point win is enough.
23 Jul 2012, 10:02 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-90:
BOOM!
23 Jul 2012, 10:05 am
Heavens Game – Good point. The Sharkies showed some bottle going to the Reds home ground and knocking the stuffing out of them. The Sharkies are playing their style of rugby and playing it well. They also seemed to have learnt from past losses early this season and have rectified them . Kanko is in some sort of revival and playing bladdy well. I hope they get some good rest and are atleast fit for Saturday.
As long as the sharkies play their game again and don’t play into the hands of the stormers, we will have a humb dinger on our hands man!!!
23 Jul 2012, 10:05 am
Crusaders now favorites with TAB to win the comp, after they were 3rd favorites last week. Stormers second favs, the chiefs 3rd. sharks not rated a hope in…. well…..
23 Jul 2012, 10:14 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-85: The cricket……shots of the Pom fans, cricketing icons and respected blue bloods in the crowd – priceless
23 Jul 2012, 10:15 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-83: BOOM.
23 Jul 2012, 10:15 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-85: hear hear…i enjoyed every minute of yesterday’s match…artherton and nassir surreptitiously laying into the pom bowlers as vern got movement out of that “flat” pitch
23 Jul 2012, 10:16 am
@race of tan-93: Straight shooting… A humdinger it truly will be…
But for the love of good rugby, may the most enterprising team go through to meet the Chiefs in the final…
And tohell with this continual “finals” dumbfuck unimaginative rugby bulldust for Super Rugby.
23 Jul 2012, 10:16 am
@Transformation-77: BOOM is the new BANG
23 Jul 2012, 10:17 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-95:
They were broken.
I loved the cheer that went up when Anderson went passed Hashim’s outside edge for the first time in the 290′s.
Not even an ocean of Pimms could save ‘em.
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