Cell C Sharks' replacement scrum half Cameron Wright (left) holds off opposite number Charlie Shiel, during the Sharks' match United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh Rugby v Cell C Sharks at DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, on 28 January, 2023. (Photo: David Gibson/Fotosport/Shutterstock/BackpagePix) The Sharks have been largely inconsistent in the United Rugby Championship (URC) so far this season — having won seven and lost four of their 11 matches.
Neil Powell’s men have played their best rugby at home and with their hoard of Springboks leading the charge.
There was a comforting change this week when the Sharks — playing without Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Jaden Hendrikse and Lukhanyo Am — produced a scintillating 22-19 win over Edinburgh in Scotland on Saturday night.
The victory takes the Sharks to eighth on the URC log with two matches in hand to most teams above them.
The Sharks took the lead, for the final time in the match, in the 62nd minute and never looked back.
The final 10 minutes saw them defend a slew of Edinburgh attacks on their try line with 14 men, as the Sharks played with Carlu Sadie in the sin bin for a dangerous cleanout.
Nevertheless, the Shark’s defensive line was a brick wall and the times Edinburgh did manage to break through fullback Aphelele Fassi was there to put in a try-saving tackle.
Edinburgh fought for the winning five-pointer until the 87th minute but the tireless Sharks’ defence scrambled and tackled until the final whistle eventually blew.
“We are so proud of the boys for the effort and character they showed. It was tough in the last few minutes but over the whole 80 minutes, they showed a lot of fight,” said director of rugby Neil Powell.
“That must become the standard for the Sharks — how we pitch up and play in every game. We saw on the field that all of the guys are on the same page and fully committed to where we want to go this season.”
“We had opportunities to take the game away from them, but overall it was a very good win if you think of how the other SA teams went,” Powell added.
Not a good Friday
South Africa’s two premier teams and last season’s finalists, the Bulls and Stormers both lost away games on Friday night.
The Bulls, who have moved down to fourth on the log after their defeat, were beaten 37-28 by Scarlets who secured only their fourth win of the season in the process.
The match was at least entertaining, although often error-ridden, as both teams ran in four tries to capture the imagination of both supporters.
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The difference between the two sides was the Bulls opting not to chance their arm at kickable penalties in the last quarter while Scarlets’ Sam Castelow nailed three penalty goals.
The Stormers, meanwhile, kicked off at the same time as their Pretoria rivals on Friday and suffered the same fate — although a bit more brutally.
The reigning URC champions went down 35-5 to Ulster at the Kingspan stadium.
The loss means their breathing room has been closed from the chasing pack, with Ulster now within two points from the second-placed Capetonians.
Besides the scoreboard, there was more bad news for head coach John Dobson as No 8 Evan Roos suffered a possible season-ending knee injury in a ruck early in the first half.
“I would be surprised if he plays for the Stormers again [this season],” Dobson said.
Roos only returned to the playing field last week, off the bench against Clermont, after suffering injury on the Springboks’ end-of-year tour last year.
The Stormers failed to find any momentum in the match as the spine of their side was disrupted when hooker JJ Kotze and flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis also went off injured.
It meant that the away side were 21-0 down at halftime and never found their way back into the match.
Lions offer no bite
The Irish demolition of South African opposition didn’t end there for the weekend as the Lions suffered a 43-24 loss to Connacht on Saturday evening.
Scrumhalf Caolin Blade stole the show with a magnificent hat trick to help Connacht secure their second win in two URC matches over South African opposition after their 24-12 win over the Sharks at the start of January.
“We didn’t play in the right areas of the field where they did… We led quite early 10-8 but when they got rolling, they looked really good with the ball in hand. If you give them time and space behind you, they are a tough team to stop,” said Lions assistant coach Jaque Fourie about Connacht.
The loss signals the end of the Lions’ four-match European tour — in which they only won one match, 30-20 against Dragons — and have only won one in their last six.
“The guys will be happy to go back home now,” Fourie added, “press the reset button and then we’ve got four or five games at home again that we need to win if we want to be contenders in the top eight.” DM