Good Friday turns bad for Sharks
THE Sharks’ downward Super Rugby spiral continued at Jonsson Kings Park on Good Friday when they delivered a depressingly poor performance in losing 21-14 to the Queensland Reds. It was the Sharks’ fourth home defeat of the season and given that they head for Australia on Sunday for a tough threeweek tour, it would seem their Super Rugby race for 2019 is just about run. The Sharks left three tries on the table thanks to final passes going astray or being knocked on. They looked dazed and confused with ball in hand (the catching and passing was dreadful), lacked cohesion and shape on attack and were pathetic in defence. In fact the Reds were gifted two soft and early tries when Sharks defenders fell off tackles. It was 14-0 after as many minutes and the Sharks resembled stunned mullets. In the first quarter the Sharks turned down numerous kicks at goal in favour of the kick to the corner. They are a team lacking in confidence and it would have been more beneficial to take easy points when they were on offer. In the 24th minute they did eventually get it right when hooker Kerron van Vurren scored off the back of a lineout try. Sadly for the Sharks’ fans, the next time their team would score was the 79th minute when the game was won and lost. The game was an unattractive war of attrition from Van Vuuren’s try onwards, with the next score coming in the 60th minute when Reds scrumhalf Tate McDermott was put clean through the defence, and that was the ball game at 21-7. At the death, there was a consolation try for Jean-Luc Du Preez, but it was way too little much too late.
Scorers:
Sharks: Try: Kerron van Vuuren, JeanLuc du Preez. Conversions: Rob du Preez, Curwin Bosch
Reds: Tries: Bryce Hegarty, Chris Feuai-Sautia, Tate Mc Dermott. Conversions: Hegarty (2), Hamish Stewart
¡ The Lions beat the Chiefs (2317) in Hamilton, New Zealand, yesterday. Malcom Marx was back to his all-powerful self. He also made eight tackles in a strong Lions defensive effort and found his lineout men 10 times. Marx was a presence throughout the 80 minutes and helped guide rookie props Sadie and Sti Sithole, who together ensured the Lions scrum was a dominant force in the contest. He showed in Hamilton he is best left alone, and free of the captaincy, to focus on his game.
Scorers:
Chiefs Tries: Wainui, Laulala, Manu; Conversion: McKenzie
Lions Tries: Sadie, Dyantyi; Conversions: Jantjies (2); Penalties: Jantjies (2); Drop-goal: Jantjies