To say Curwin was ‘good’ is an understatement

THE Sharks host the Kings at Kings Park on Saturday and it is likely that there will be a freshening up of the starting 15 that did such good duty against the Waratahs at the weekend.

The Sharks beat the New South Wales team 37-14 and it is an indictment on taciturn coach Robert du Preez that he pronounced that the overall performance was not good enough, and that improvement would be sought against the struggling Eastern Province team this week, even if it meant bringing a number of new faces into the starting line-up.

“We left too many points out there and lost our grip on the game in the second half,” the stern Du Preez said. “We need to keep improving, as we have done since that poor first-round game against the Reds, and if there are new guys coming in this week, that won’t make a difference to the many easy tries and we allowed them to put all the pressure on us.”

Indeed, the Lions, after producing a strong performance against the Waratahs the week before, were unable to find any rhythm and momentum and were on the back foot throughout the contest. The Jaguares played in their faces and ran hard at the young backline, who weren’t able to contain the home team.

Like a year ago, a second-string Lions side lost to the Jaguares after Ackermann opted to play a weakend team in Buenos Aires. Captain Warren Whiteley (pictured) said it was crucial to give some of the youngsters Super Rugby experience.

“It was a tough game, but we must also look at it as being a fantastic opportunity for the younger players. The experience they gained is big,” he said afterwards.

“They were the superior side today, they dominated us physically, but we’ll have to stand up soon again.”

The Lions will arrive back in Johannesburg this morning and start preparations for the Reds tomorrow.

“It’s going to be a very important game,” said Whiteley. “We’re going to have to bounce back as quickly as possible.”

The Lions will this week welcome back the likes of Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Franco Mostert and possible also Ruan Combrinck.

Sanchez meanwhile has been cited for foul play after clashing in the air with Lions wing Anthony Volmink and will undergo a hearing soon. The citing commissioner deemed the offence had met the red card threshold. overall team challenge and the standards we are aiming for.”

The Sharks lost captain and flyhalf Patrick Lambie two minutes into the game because of a back spasm and while the extent of the injury is still to be evaluated, he is unlikely to play against the Kings.

His replacement, Curwin Bosch, turned in a Man of the Match performance in scoring 27 points off the bench.

Du Preez’s response? “He has a lot of talent, he had a good game ...”

The coach is a master of understatement. He prefers to say less than more in press conferences but he surely will be elated that a 21-year-old that has been earmarked as a fullback came on and played a match-winning performance at 10.

In an another injury development, starting fullback Clement Poitrenaud was pulled off at half time because of a niggling groin injury that was being nursed last week.

Du Preez intimated that players that were sore would be rested this week, meaning a possible chance for 2016 SA Under 20 flyhalf Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, who started in the curtain-raiser match between a Sharks XV and a Blue Bulls XV.

“We have young guns in Berhard and Inny Radebe (the Currie Cup flyhalf last year) who need to be tested at this level,” Du Preez said. “After the Kings, we have the Cheetahs and Lions away, so we are going to have to box clever with our squad.”

With Lambie and Poitrenaud injured in the first half against the Waratahs, the Sharks backline needed to be restructured, and Du Preez was pleased with what he saw. “We saw the class of a guy like Lukhanyo Am, who ended up on the wing and, of course, Curwin at flyhalf,” the coach said. “We have some outstanding talent in the squad and we are going to back all of the guys. It is a very long competition and the coaching staff have no concerns at all in backing our bench and giving everybody a shot.”

Fumbled a high ball in the first half and followed it up with a very poor pass as he was driven into touch. That clearance kick in the first quarter was just plain bad. Nice offload to Dillyn Leyds in the first 40. Over the past two weeks he’s impressed with his running lines, but in the first half against the Kings he struggled to spot those gaps and instead ran straight into defenders a few times. And the fact that he got closed down quite effectively didn’t help either. He got some of his flair back in the second half and made a few good runs and offloads.

What can be said about that try? Stunning display of pace and power to beat three defenders and fend one off. He (pictured) also worked hard around the park as he made his tackles, secured a few high balls, got some nice passes away and excited with his running. Amazing offload to Marais in the third quarter. Try-saving tackle in the last 20. Worthy of the Man-of-the-Match award maybe?

Clever kick after Oli Kebble’s pass, but it just went a little too far. Nice running and passing and his hands were also instrumental in Bjorn Basson’s try, just like Dan du Plessis’. Held onto the ball once or twice when passing would have been the better option. Also contributed on defence. Lost the ball early in the second half.

Some good work in the messy areas. A few well-timed, space-creating passes. Solid running that really helped the Stormers’ attacking cause. Hopefully we see more of him in the No 12 jersey.

Great thinking when he got taken down just short of the try line, released the ball and got back up on his feet before snatching it up to reach out and score. Swiftly moved down touch a few times. Intercepted a Kings pass. Made some good tackles. liability when it comes to conceding penalties. He was lucky not to get a card for that scuffle that took quite long to break up (Eben Etzebeth was quite capable of handling it on his own, so why Elstadt got involved in the first place I do not understand). In between just pushing players around, he made some tackles. Again, not a great game. That try that he finished off was good, but that was about it.

Beautiful break and run in the first quarter before he went to ground all by himself …still, a good run though. Made good carries. A lot of good work in that game.

Fully deserving of that Man-of-the-Match title as he was a menace in the lineouts, made non-stop, big tackles and even ran a few impressive lines. Couldn’t have asked for a better game as stand-in skipper. He knocked the ball on in the third quarter. Other than that, all good.

Penalised for not releasing the ball early in the second half. Made a few strong tackles. Good scrummaging and also worked hard in open play.

His work at the lineouts can’t be faulted. Conceded a penalty early on as he joined the ruck from the side.