By Gavin Rich.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks produced what was undeniably their performance of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship season so far but the DHL Stormers managed to hold on to eke out a crucial 16-15 win in a tense coastal derby at the DHL Stadium on Saturday.
In truth the Stormers should have wrapped up the game with the several opportunities that came their way in the final minutes, and it was them on attack with the scrum put in on the right corner flag when the final whistle sounded. There again, had a 50/50 scrum call gone their way with a few minutes to go, the Sharks would have been in a great attacking position with a real chance of winning the game.
It was that close, and it was again great Stormers game management in the final minutes that got them home, but boy, did they make heavy weather of it as first a driving maul try was disallowed and then they failed to make use of a clear overlap opportunity on the Sharks’ line. That kind of summed up the day for the Stormers. It was, as Man of the Match BJ Dixon put it afterwards, a day when the hosts just never got going.
Full marks though to the Sharks for the role they played in raising the decibel levels at a stadium that again drew a crowd for 40 000 for a festive derby. From the outset it was clear that the Durbanites had come to play, and while the Stormers put in some massive early hits, so too did their opponents. In that sense it was a typical South African derby and also a good advert for rugby in this country.
The Sharks got their tactics right early doors, with scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse on the mark with his kicking game at the base of the scrum, but as was the case the previous week against the Bulls, the Stormers were able to stand up in the aerial battle. Well, at least until they had to reconfigure when centre Ruhan Nel was stretchered off with what looks like a serious knee injury and young fullback Jurie Matthee found himself having to play the unfamiliar position of fullback in his first big URC derby game.
He did well considering, but the Stormers just never appeared as safe, either in that aspect of their game and their defence, once the backline was reconfigured, with Springbok fullback Damian Willemse moving to outside centre.
The Stormers were leading 7-0 when Nel left the field just short of the half hour mark, with big Adre Smith capitalising on some poor Sharks defensive work by barging over near the posts after a buildup that had featured Hacjivah Dayimani’s running and handling skills twice and also Deon Fourie in the 16th minute.
The Stormers scrum immediately forced a penalty after Nel’s departure, and although it was right on the Sharks’ line, the home team wisely elected to kick for posts and for Libbok succeeded to put his team up 10-0.
The Sharks though showed just what they are capable of as from one of their rare attacking opportunities in the half they created an advantage in numbers against a Stormers defensive system perhaps still regrouping from the loss of Nel and Werner Kok had the pace to get over for a spectacular try in the corner.
Curwin Bosch couldn’t convert the angled conversion but after a half where it was mostly the Stormers in the ascendancy, the Sharks would have been emboldened by the fact they were still in the game at 10-5 when the break came.
Libbok missed a penalty into the swirling wind immediately after halftime but then made up for it in the 45th minute as the Stormers went ahead by more than a score once more (eight points). The Stormers then might have been unlucky when a promising breakout was whistled up by referee AJ Jacobs for what can best be described as a very marginal forward pass call, and from the ensuing scrum the Sharks netted a penalty that Bosch kicked to make it 13-8 after 52 minutes.
Then came the best period of sustained Sharks pressure in the game, with the Stormers helping out by losing discipline and conceding penalties, and when big Corne Rahl crashed over for the score between the posts, the Stormers had also infringed enough to be reduced to 14 men as Ali Vermaak, the replacement prop, was yellow carded.
Bosch kicked the conversion to put his team in front for the first time with 23 minutes to go, by which time it was clear it was going to be a tense game right through to the finish. The Stormers didn’t have to wait long to regain the lead, the Sharks went offside from the restart, and Libbok kicked the three pointer that made it 16-15 at the start of the final quarter.
And that was the way it remained even though the Stormers did get over the line from the driving maul try and came close on a couple of other occasions, while the Sharks, desperate for a win that would have been huge given the Stormers’ long unbeaten record in derbies, threw everything they had into both attack and defence.
It was the Stormers though that did what they needed to do in those final minutes, meaning they played the game in the right areas of the field.
Scores
DHL Stormers 16 – Try: Adre Smith; Conversion: Manie Libbok; Penalties: Manie Libbok 3. Hollywoodbets Sharks 15 – Tries: Werner Kok and Corne Rahl; Conversion: Curwin Bosch; Penalty: Curwin Bosch.