Sharks grab the points, as Cheetahs throw away first-half lead

THE quality of rugby was poor, with far too many handling errors and too little in way of enterprising attacking play. In the end the Sharks edged the Cheetahs 18-15 to bag the four points, while the hosts picked up a losing bonus point.

The Cheetahs gave up a good first half lead to lose the game late on. At the half-hour mark the Cheetahs led 15-6, but they didn’t score another point in the game. They more than matched their opponents in the close encounters, with axed Bok prop Trevor Nyakane par- ticularly prominent as a ballcarrier and not far behind him was young lock Lood de Jager.

The new scrum engagement law has, in most instances, been well-received by coaches and players but it was a mess last night, with both front rows heavily penalised – for illegal binding, but also for wheeling the scrum.

It was an arm-wrestle from first whistle to last, with the Sharks dominating the open exchanges and finishing the first half the stronger of the sides, with the Cheetahs enjoying the bulk of possession in the middle stages. After going 6-3 up in the first 20 minutes, the Cheetahs took control of the match with tries by Lappies Labuschagne and Raymond Rhule before the Sharks hit back in the final 10 minutes of the first period.

They won four penalties in a row at one stage, and every time opted for the lineout and drive, but every time the Chee- tahs kept them out. But on the stroke of half- time, Deysel burst over from close to make it a two-point game.

The second half was forgettable, with the only points coming fairly late on when Louis Ludik crossed the tryline after a good break by replacement No 9 Cobus Reinach.