By Brenden Nel.
The Cell C Sharks never recovered from a poor first half as they went down 24-12 to Connacht in blustery rainy conditions in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Galway on Saturday night.
The Durban side may have selected a second string side, but only in the second half did they show the fight that they needed to as they rallied from 19-0 down to come close to gaining a losing bonus point.
It kept up Connacht’s incredible home record of not losing a home match against a South African side and underlined, in the conditions, what a difficult place it was to play.
But to be fair, the Sharks have themselves to blame. While the side may have been more a Currie Cup outfit than the one that usually plays in the URC, their own failings – the lack of cohesion in playing together, the poor kicking tactics and the slow pace of the game made it difficult for them to get out of their own half in the first part of the game.
Connacht played the match exceptionally well, using the wind and knowledge of the local conditions well to their advantage, but any suggestion that this would go down as a game for the ages would be well filed under ridiculous.
The match constituted way too many errors on both sides, while the Sharks will be aggrieved that a try by Dian Bleuler wasn’t awarded when Grant Williams was adjudged to be in an offside position after a charge-down kick.
Add to that despite their clear dominance at the set-piece, the Sharks weren’t given the rub of the green by referee Adam Jones, who refused time and again to penalise the weaker scrum, and it was clear that this wasn’t to be their night.
They were also their own worst enemies, struggling to get their lineout working or any form of continuity and it was only in the second half when Cameron Wright was replaced by Williams that they seemed to get more direction.
It may be an understatement that the weather wasn’t their friend, but the Sharks seemed to have written off this game before kickoff, and the only positive to take from the loss was the fact that Joey Mongalo’s side got game time together.
And while much has been said about the travel, the Sharks may well look back at this game and reflect on whether it was the correct decision.
Win in the next two weeks in Heineken Champions’ Cup and it definitely was. And that is what they will be hoping for.
SHARKS TOO PREDICTABLE
Cathal Forde had a blinder at inside centre, scoring twice and being a constant thorn in the Sharks side, and it wasn’t surprising to see him walk away with the man of the match award.
For the Sharks there were some good individual performances, but they were negated by the individuality of the overall performance, as the team lacked that cohesiveness needed to win away from home.
The first try came from the back of a rolling maul as Conor Oliver went over and Forde got the second after a beautiful collection of a chip found Tom Farrell, who in turn offloaded to Forde for his first try.
When Tiernan O’Halloran struck off another wide move late in the first half the Sharks were 19-0 behind and would always chase the result.
They had some naivety attached to decisions as well, by choosing lineouts instead of their dominant scrum when Shaun Delahunt was yellow carded for a cynical offence early in the second half.
Instead of playing the numbers with a hooker off the field, they backed their lineout maul, which was stopped with too much ease at times.
Forde scored his second in this time when the yellow card was a factor, and it was only then that the Sharks struck when Rohan Janse van Rensburg wasn’t held in a tackle and bounced over on the second try.
Bleuler was denied but finally got his try late in the game, giving the Sharks hope of a bonus point. But their attack, like most of the game, was too predictable and static and needs more time to develop.
But from a Currie Cup point of view, this side would give a lot of hope.
Scorers
Connacht – Tries: Cathal Forde (2), Conor Oliver, Tiernan O’ Halloran. Conversions: Jack Carty (2)
Cell C Sharks – Tries: Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Dian Bleuler. Conversion: Lionel Cronje.