Sharks doggedly did the business in Durban tonight

SHARKS (17) 27

LIONS (3) 3

by MIKE GREENAWAY AT KINGS PARK

ON a day when the South African Super Rugby Conference was blown wide open by events in Timaru and Cape Town, the Sharks doggedly did the business in Durban to defeat the Lions for the tenth consecutive time in this competition.

Considerably more important than that statistic (the Cats beat the Sharks in 2001, if you really want to know), is the advance the Sharks have made up the table courtesy of their bonus-point win over a Lions team that can euphemistically be described as ragged, others might say that on the night they were abjectly dire.

The Sharks, thanks to well-timed tries after the half-time hooter and then the full-time siren have overtaken the Bulls, who were utterly hopeless against the Crusaders, and are now four points adrift of the Stormers, who were disappointing against the Aussie pace-setters.

The beauty of this win for the Sharks is that they will watch next week’s events from their sitting room sofas, suitable refreshments in hand, and reassured in the knowledge that Super Rugby rewards the indolent with four log points.

After their bye this week, the Sharks will host the Hurricanes nine points to the better, and who knows what would have happened in the interim to the Stormers, who travel to a Lions team that will be much chastised by their surely furious coach; and the Bulls, who in Brisbane will once more attempt to validate a game plan that is being rapidly rendered antiquated in the 2011 version of the game, against the same Reds team that silenced the lambs at Newlands.

But lest we get ahead of ourselves, what of the game at Kings Park last night? To be frank, much of it was a street-fight that belonged in an alley off Point Road but every now and then the Sharks obliterated the gloom with dazzling light.

The passages of play that led to their three first half tries and their injury-time hurrah were exceptional, and that is what the Sharks will mostly take out of a mostly ugly game for the spectators. Each try was exceptionally good in its origin, the patient build-up and then the execution, although let’s give more credit to Charl McLeod for his opportunism in seizing the fourth try with a quick tap and dash over the line.

For the Sharks, this match was just about as much about the result as it was about restoring confidence after losing three on the trot, including a home game last week against the Stormers.

And after the bye, they will welcome Patrick Lambie back from injury. The youngster’s absence has reminded the Sharks just how integral he is to the way they play, with respect to his replacement.

The Lions started well enough when Elton Jantjies kicked a brilliant penalty from way out in just the second minute after perennial Man of the Matchh Willem Alberts was penalised for offside at a ruck.

That should have been cancelled out by Jacques-Louis Potgieter four minutes later when a regulation penalty attempt in front was pushed onto the right hand upright.

The Sharks got it beautifully right in the 15th minute when Louis Ludik snuck in at the corner flag after a composed build up that featured Ryan Kankowski and Keegan Daniel making good breaks and eventually saw the fullback freed for a dash down the blindside touchline.

The first half an hour saw plenty of teeth-clenching effort attempt from both sides but promising build-ups almost always perished because of an elementary error, and for the 25 127 present in the Shark Tank there was the dismay of watching Potgieter miss four kicks at goal.

But every now and again the Sharks would suddenly turn it on, such as Albert’s try eight minutes before the break. It began when a huge hit from John Smit at a ruck turned the ball over near his 22, and then saw fine interplay between the excellent Stefan Terblanche and JP Pietersen before Alberts was put into space on the Lions’ 22, and a couple of red and white stop signs were not going to halt the runaway train from there.

Meyer Bosman kicked the conversion, much to the ironic cheer of the crowd.

Another such moment came after the half-time hooter when the maligned Potgieter made up for his forgettable first half with a precision cross kick from the halfway line that disappeared into Pietersen’s bread basket, and the Springbok wing brushed off Jaco Taute’s attempted tackle to give the Sharks their third try and an imposing 17-3 lead. Potgieter missed the conversion – Bosman was off the field injured).

The second half was truly forgettable. A Potgieter penalty threatened to be the only score of the half until McLeod’s heroics at the very death.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries: Louis Ludik, Willem Alberts, JP Pietersen, Charl Mcleod. Conversions: Meyer Bosman, Jacques-Louis Potgieter (2).

Lions: Penalty: Elton Jantjes