Masuku stars as Sharks set up quarter
Siya Masuku is getting steadily more influential in the Sharks No 10 jersey and the flyhalf was at the centre of almost everything that went right on a wet Durban day as the hosts overcame Zebre 47-3 in their EPCR Challenge Cup round-of16 clash yesterday.
It was the Sharks’ third win in succession, as they continue to gain momentum heading deep into the European secondary competition that offers their only opening into next season’s edition of the elite Champions Cup due to their poor placing in the United Rugby Championship.
Masuku, recruited from the Cheetahs in the off-season, only started to get game time from mid-February, because coach John Plumtree wasn’t impressed with his physical conditioning when he arrived.
He isn’t as prodigious with distance as Curwin Bosch, the man he displaced, with long kicks to touch from penalties, but every other aspect of his game was outstanding and his creative presence played a strong role in three of the first four Sharks tries.
Zebre took an early 3-0 lead with a fifth-minute penalty but after that the busy and tactically astute play of the Sharks powered the hosts into a lead that was never threatened as they set up a clash with Edinburgh in this coming weekend’s quarterfinal in Durban.
Another player who has been a revelation in the Sharks jersey in the past few weeks, young centre Ethan Hooker, provided the initial thrust in the build-up to the Sharks’ first try, but it was Masuku’s little jink through the Zebre defenders and inside pass to the scorer, flanker Vincent Tshituka, that set up the seven-pointer.
The two wings combined for the second try, with Makazole Mapimpi running the ball to a few metres out from the Zebre line on the right hand corner before former Blitzbok star Werner Kok drove his way over the line.
Masuku produced a chip kick that Lukhanyo Am ran onto before transferring the ball down the line for young lock Corne Rahl to score near the posts, propelling the Sharks into a 21-3 halftime lead.
Though always dominant in the scrums and also accurate in the line-outs, the Sharks didn’t have it all their own way in the battle for possession, being forced to make more tackles in the first half.
If there was any chance of Zebre coming back in the second half, that was ended when Masuku produced his next bit of magic to set up a Sharks try, this time a grubber in front of the Zebre posts that fullback Aphelele Fassi ran onto to secure his team’s fourth try.
Phepsi Buthelezi added the fifth try four minutes short of the hour mark as the Sharks made completely certain of the win that ensures they go back to headquarters next week to host Edinburgh in their quest to make the semifinals. Scorers:
Sharks 47: Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Werner Kok, Corne Rahl, Aphelele Fassi, Phepsi Buthelezi, Ethan Hooker and Curwin Bosch. Conversions: Siya Masuku (5) and Curwin Bosch.
Zebre 3: Penalty: Tiff Eden.