Sharks shine in friendly
RESULTS do not matter in pre-season warm ups, and they certainly don’t matter when your opposition sends a squad of youngsters who would probably be proud to be called “second-string”.
The Sharks romped home to a 53-7 win against a Bulls XV at Crusader Rugby Club last night, but what was most pleasing was a few key players took the chances to shine.
With the departure of JP Pietersen, there was a sizeable hole left in the Sharks’ backline for a bruising wing, and luckily it seems the men from Durban have plugged that hole with their purchase from Cape Town, Kobus van Wyk.
The burly wing was only on the park for half the match, as coach Robert du Preez made multiple changes with his 15man bench, but still managed to score a hat-trick in the black and white of the Sharks.
His namesake, Cobus Reinach, was the other shining light as the nippy Springbok took his chance at starting, after coming off the bench against the Cheetahs last week, to remind fans what an asset he can be for the Sharks.
Reinach managed a try against the Cheetahs after gathering a grubber from Tera Mtembu, but in this match he turned provider with a grubber to Lwazi Mvovo to score the last try of the half, but only after his own try from a quickly taken penalty.
The tries rained down for the Sharks in the first half, but it was the Bulls who got the first score of the game. Kobus and Cobus, Van Wyk and Reinach, added four tries, with Mvovo’s fifth making it 31-7 at half time.
The changes at halftime saw six of the Sharks’ stars taken off and quickly put in cotton wool as the replacements made their way onto the park, causing a little disruption in flow. But eventually the tries did start flowing again as substitute Jeremy Ward scored his second try in two weeks with just his fourth touch of the ball, making a real case to be the first choice No 13.
Wian Vosloo and Chiliboy Ralepelle got some points for the forwards, while the final try came from SA Under-20 star Sibusiso Nkosi who weaved through the defence to dot under the poles.