The Cell C Sharks picked up their second victory of the Super Rugby campaign as they saw off the Toyota Cheetahs 27 / 10 in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
An improved performance was always on the cards following the defeat the men from Durban suffered against Stormers in their previous outing and the revival particularly at scrum-time will be encouraging for both the Super Rugby team and the Springbok coaching set-up.
The experience Tendai Mtawarira and brothers Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis brought to the game was crucial on the day, but the real winner for the Sharks was their defence against a Cheetahs outfit that was predictably full of running.
The home side were dealt a significant blow ahead of the match when flyhalf Joe Pietersen was ruled out through injury and the absence of an experienced playmaker showed as thy failed to show the structure in defence that saw them walk away with the win when these sides met in the opening round.
Pietersen’s replacement, Willie du Plessis, started the afternoon on a positive note as he put the Cheetahs in front in the 5th minute, but that would be the last time his team had any say in the contest.
The Sharks responded swiftly with a try by Springbok centre Francois Steyn who barged his way over from 8m out.
Lambie kicked the conversion and although the Cheetahs had a chance to close the gap, Du Plessis missed from 25m out after Renaldo Bothma was adjudged to have been offside.
The Sharks stretched their lead to 10 / 3 in the 23rd minute with another Lambie penalty and would go well clear of their hosts when Man Of The Match, Marcell Coetzee, scored his team’s 2nd try from a well executed driving maul in the 28th minute.
The penalty that gave the visitors the field position was conceded by their No 8 Boom Prinsloo who pushed one of his opponents in an off-the-ball incident.
Coetzee scored his 2nd try of the match a little more than 5 minutes later – again from a drive and again Lambie made no mistake with the conversion.
In an otherwise pleasing half, the Sharks were dealt a heavy blow when lock Pieter-Steph du Toit was carried off the field with a knee injury. He looked to be in tremendous pain, but was later seen walking around with a knee-brace, which may be an indication that he isn’t as hurt as was initially thought.
Leading 22 / 3 at the break the Sharks needed just 1 try in the 2nd half to bank the bonus point.
Their hosts, however, had other plans as they tried to claw their way back into the match.
They took every opportunity to attack the Sharks line and even though they dominated possession and territory for periods on end, they needed something special when the fat lady had already raised her voice.
Coetzee came close to securing a hat-trick of tries, but his 3rd drive to the line was adjudged to have been illegal.
Eventually Jack Wilson finished off in the corner to ensure the Sharks would return home with the bonus point while the Cheetahs had Francois Venter to thank for their 1st and only try of the match, which arrived with only 6 minutes left on the clock.
Perhaps the only positive the Cheetahs will take from the match is the star-quality flanker Heinrich Brussow showed when he was brought on as a replacement.
Brussow lived up to his reputation as one of the best players at the breakdown and should become a permanent face in his team’s starting line-up during their upcoming tour of Australasia.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs:
- Tries: Francois Venter (1)
- Conversions: Francois Brummer (1)
- Penalties: Willie du Plessis (1), Francois Brummer (1)
Cell C Sharks:
- Tries: Francois Steyn (1), Marcell Coetzee (2), Jack Wilson (1)
- Conversions: Patrick Lambie (2)
- Penalties: Patrick Lambie (1)
Yellow Card:
Ryan Kankowski (Sharks, 79 th minute – offside at the maul)
Teams:
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Johannes Prinsloo, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Teboho Mohoje, 5 Francois Uys (Captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Danie Mienie
Replacements: 16 BG Uys, 17 Stephan Coetzee, 18 Nicolaas van Dyk, 19 Heinrich Brüssow, 20 Steven Sykes, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Willie du Plessis, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Cell C Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Renaldo Bothma, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, (Captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Marco Wentzel, 20 Lubabalo Mtembu, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Jack Wilson.
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)