‘Sharks were given rough end of the stick’

Ken Borland

Angry Sharks coach Robert du Preez (right) implied that there were countless acts of foul play during their Super Rugby thriller against the Lions at Ellis Park at the weekend, but that only his team were penalised.

Referees throughout the competition have been clamping down on any tackles above the shoulder, but the Sharks were particularly hard hit by a double intervention from TMO Johan Greeff, an official they have prior history with and not in a good way.

First they had a try disallowed in the 27th minute that would have given them an 18-3 lead, after the TMO highlighted lock Etienne Oosthuizen holding a player around the neck at an earlier ruck. The same player was then given a yellow card just before half-time as the TMO again spotted him playing the neck. The Lions would score from the resulting penalty kicked to touch, closing the gap to 13-16 at the break and then taking the lead early in the second half with another try.

While the rulings were technically correct, there seemed little danger in either situation and the Sharks were particularly incensed that several Lions high tackles went unpunished, without any intervention from the TMO.

“The yellow card cost us, it definitely contributed to the loss, and the incident was so marginal. If Etienne is going to get a yellow card for that then we must review every incident of foul play. We had chances right to the end, so we can’t really blame the decisions for our defeat, but I think there were other incidents that needed to be looked at. Obviously I’m not happy we conceded so many penalties, but I need to look at the replay to see if they were all justified,” Du Preez growled.

But the level of performance produced by the Sharks in pushing the Lions all the way at their Ellis Park fortress suggests they should be optimistic when the Jaguares visit King’s Park this weekend and for when they host the Lions in the return fixture on July 15 in their final game before the knockouts.

“We showed good intensity and it was a tough game, so I’m proud of the team,” Du Preez said.