Picture the scene, Bismarck Du Plessis climbing a sheer cliff, and on reaching the summit watches a helicopter hover overhead. A man leans out and fires a rocket to his right. Inside in a pair of sunglasses, and upon putting them on, a message displays. ” Good morning Mr. Du Plessis, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go to Newlands and beat the Stormers by 35 points and score a minimum of four tries”
Yes I know it’s cheesy, but that’s pretty much the gist of the challenge facing the Sharks this evening. After leading the Combined Log for the majority of the Super Rugby season, they have let their lead slip by having a couple of below average results, first losing at home to the Stormers, and then going down to the Cheetahs last weekend.
Should the Sharks want to end second on the Combined Log and thereby securing a Home Semi-final, they have no other choice but to accept the challenge of winning with 4 tries and a margin of 35.
Unlike the Blues, who yesterday were faced with a similar situation against the Chiefs, the Sharks can afford to go for it, and if unsuccessful still be secure in the knowledge that they have qualified. The Blues didn’t have that luxury and ultimately succumbed against a Chief side that soaked up the pressure and was only interested in a win, whether by 1 point or 10.
The danger of chasing a big win is that an all out attacking mindset can lead to turnovers, which in turn lead to tries against you. Just ask Heyneke Meyer and his Boks what happened at Ellis Park in the last game of the Rugby Championship last year.
The Stormers haven’t conceded even 1 point at Newlands in their last two games, beating the Cheetahs by 33-0 and then beating the Bulls 16-0 last weekend. Their defensive record, while not as good as that of the Sharks, is still pretty formidable and it’s a rare occasion that they concede 4 tries against them.
Should the Sharks manage to pull off this mission this evening, they fully deserve to be crowned Super Rugby champions in my book.
So Bismarck, do you accept the mission?
All you needed to do is to add the MUSIC to the Mission Impossible Movie to this article, Nortie….
grootblousmile wrote:
Lol, that would be cool.
little tongue in cheek piece to set the mood for this afternoon
2 @ nortierd:
One can add music like that on Rugby-Talk!!
I’ll do it for this Article after the Tahs game!
@ grootblousmile:
Cool, thanks
…exactly!!!
I think this pics says it all…
@ Gumboots:
Going to be a tall order
Song is up and running!
And a great piece of Music it is too.
😉
Thanks GBS, the music in the background is nice.
Seems like there is not much RT can’t do
Heyneke vs Jake
92-3 vs ??
Hmmm, I don’t think Jake will go for it.
Brazilan kid complains to his friend: “I can’t even go play with my dog anymore, he’s a German Shepherd and he doesn’t bark he laughs.”
Well, after the final whistle the Sharks were just 1 try short of their bonus point, and 11 points shy of the target margin.
They only really seemed to cut loose and go for it when it was too late in the second half.
Maybe if they decided from the word go to have a crack they could have made it.
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