HEARTBREAK FOR SHARKS, WHILE LIONS ROAR THE RIGHT MEDICINE
ON FRIDAY morning the Sharks suffered a heart-breaking 38-37 loss to the Hurricanes in Napier after they conceded a converted try in the fourth minute after the final hooter.
Although the coastal side can be proud of their effort, they will be disappointed at their failure to close out the match.
Meanwhile, up in Johannesburg young winger Madosh Tambwe scored four tries to help steer the Lions to a comprehensive 52-31 Super Rugby win over the Stormers on Saturday evening.
The Bulls, who defeated the Stormers in last week’s clash in Pretoria, had a bye over the weekend. And in the remaining South African Conference match played on Saturday in Buenos Aires, the Jaguares went down 40-14 to the Crusaders.
The Lions put a difficult few weeks behind them with Saturday’s outstanding performance against the Stormers, who struggled to match their forward dominance and pace on attack.
They increased their points tally to 25 at the top of the South African Conference, 11 points more than the second-placed Sharks, while the Stormers are now 12 points behind the local log leaders.
Tambwe, 20, scored a blitzkrieg 13-minute hattrick of tries as the Highveld team raced into a comfortable early lead against their Cape rivals. He scored his fourth shortly after the restart before leaving the field because of a leg injury. His outstanding individual performance landed him the Man of the Match accolade.
The Gauteng outfit suffered LIONS boss Swys de Bruin has labelled his team’s 52-31 win against the Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday among the most satisfying this season, and called it the “right medicine” before they head overseas for four matches in Australasia.
The Lions ran in eight tries to emphatically get the better of the Stormers for their 20th unbeaten game against all other South African opposition, stretching back to May 2015.
Young wing Madosh Tambwe was the big star with four tries on the night, but there were other outstanding performances, namely from Andries Coetzee, Ruan Combrinck,
Elton Jantjies, Dillon Smit, Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert and Malcolm Marx.
The win came at a time when several questions were being asked about the Lions’ form and strength, as well as their coaching team after they’d lost three of their last four matches in the last month.
But they answered their critics in the best way possible with a five-star performance, in all departments, to return to the top of the Super Rugby points table as they go into their bye week.
“We’ve scored 43 tries so far, the most by any team, and that’s an average of five per game, so Lions Crusaders Rebels Hurricanes Chiefs Waratahs Highlanders Brumbies Sharks
Reds Stormers Bulls Jaguares Blues Sunwolves P W D 8 5 0 7 5 0 6 4 0 6 5 0 6 5 0 6 4 1 5 3 0 6 3 0 7 2 1 6 3 0 8 3 0 6 2 0 7 2 0 6 1 0 6 0 0 L PF PA GD Pts 3 292 251 41 25 2 213 141 72 24 2 207 161 46 20 1 199 117 82 23 1 200 145 55 21 1 211 162 49 19 2 133 122 11 14 3 138 138 0 14 4 224 220 4 14 3 115 146 -31 13 5 214 256 -42 13 4 145 185 -40 9 5 164 230 -66 8 5 172 224 -52 7 6 141 270 -129 2
home defeats against the Blues and the Crusaders, but they bounced back in splendid fashion against the visitors who fell to their second successive away loss on the Highveld.
Springbok wing Ruan Combrinck celebrated his we’ve been there all along,” said De Bruin when quizzed about the up-and-down form of his team in recent weeks.
“I have to compliment the defence coach (Joey Mongalo) … we took a big step up there this week and the work he’s put in has been unbelievable. I thought our defence (against the Stormers) was unreal. Well done to Joey, he’s a great coach with a big future ahead of him,” said De Bruin.
Top-notch defence
Indeed, the Lions’ defence was top-notch, as it was the week before against the Crusaders, and it was no surprise De Bruin said after Saturday’s game the final puzzle pieces fell into place at the weekend. “That was a very strong Stormers side and yes, it was an all-round performance,” said the coach.
“It’s up there as one of the most satisfying this season, along with the win at Loftus against the Bulls. It came at just the right time for us, with the bye week coming up and the tour ahead of us. I don’t want to get too carried away though; this is a long competition.”
The Lions raced into a 19-0 lead inside 13 minutes after Tambwe’s hat-trick and never took their foot off the pedal. They dominated most aspects of the clash, even though the Stormers saw plenty of ball and return from a long injury spell by grabbing one of the hosts’ other eight tries.
The win comes as a timely boost for their four away matches against Australian and New Zealand opponents.
Leading by nine points with just three minutes to play on the clock, the Sharks conceded a penalty and then a last-gasp converted try which condemned them to a cruel loss to the Canes.
The match was a thrilling affair and the side from Durban was in control for a big part of the game thanks to some excellent attacking play, good defence and accurate kicking from flyhalf Robert du Preez, who contributed 17 points with the boot.
Ruan Botha’s team were 27-19 ahead at half-time, but they did concede a number of penalties in the second stanza as the Hurricanes came fighting back. carried it strongly, but they battled to find a way through the Lions’ defence. The home team also caused all sorts of problems at the rucks and mauls, and when they got a chance to attack, they did so with precision and pace.
De Bruin’s men led comfortably 31-10 at the break and scored a further three tries in the second half.
The home team’s kicking game, especially by Jantjies, who controlled matters like the seasoned pro that he is, was out of the top drawer and the flyhalf’s kicks into space and touch finders showed he is ready to step up again for the Springboks this season.
Fullback Coetzee was also on top of his game.
“Our tactical kicking was brilliant, and hats off to them. The spine (scrumhalf Smit, Jantjies and Coetzee) were fantastic,” said De Bruin. “Apart from the improved defence, the big change was our kicking.”
The Lions will now enjoy a bye week before heading to Australasia for matches against the Waratahs, Reds, Highlanders and Hurricanes. They will fly out next week only and will consider taking along formerly injured players like Warren Whiteley, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Ross Cronjé.
De Bruin will only finalise his tour group closer to the time of departure.
With replacement hooker Franco Marais off the field with a yellow card, centre Ngani Lamaupi went over for the deciding try in the last movement of the match to grab the win for the home side.
The two sides scored four tries each in a hightempo match.
In next weekend’s round nine fixtures the Sharks entertain the Bulls in Durban on Saturday while the Stormers, Lions and Crusaders each have a bye.
ANA
WEEKEND RESULTS