By Lucky Maree
It’s a tribute to the Stormers management that late changes to the team don’t seem to make any difference to John Dobson’s team.
Dan du Plessis can’t play? No problem. Effortlessly Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu steps in. They seem to swap in one great player for another, don’t they?
It seems that Neill Powell has finally convinced the current Sharks team to play proper rugby even if their Springbok older brothers are still not available (one says with crossed fingers). On paper, the Sharks will battle in the scrums. Can they counter the wonderfully improved Joseph Dweba and props Alistair Vermaak and Johan Fouche?
Curwin Bosch makes no mistake with a penalty to give the Sharks an early lead. There is no doubt that he is a brilliant kicker, but whether the 25-year-old has the maturity to be captain we will find out in the next 80 minutes.
After 15 minutes, the pressure that the Stormers have been applying down the left hand wing produces a try when Clayton Blommetjies puts Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu into a gap as big as a barn door.
Curwin Bosch puts the Sharks back in front with an easy penalty, but a few minutes later Ben Dixon takes a simple intercept and trots five yards to score the Stormers’ second try.
After 30 minutes the mounting pressure from the Stormers in the Sharks’ red zone means the Sharks will have to break out virtually from their own tryline or buckle under the pressure.
As it happens, they buckle. Clayton Blommetjies gets the first phase ball and scores without the defence coming near him.
At halftime the Stormers have a 13 point lead, but that’s only part of the story. The Stormers have scored three tries, the Sharks none.
The Sharks come out after halftime with more fire, but their efforts make no impression on the scoreboard.
As with the first half, the pressure once again starts mounting, particularly in the scrums.
Again it takes 15 minutes before the Stormer score through an excellent kick pass from Manie Libbok. Clayton Blommetjies cleans up and dots down.
For once, the Sharks have a positive run when Curwin Bosch kicks a cross kick that Boeta Chamberlain takes beautifully and sends Yaw Penxe away for an excellent try.
The Sharks now play positive rugby to score a powerful try through Rohan Janse van Rensburg.
If the Stormers have decided to stop playing ten minutes before the end of the match, that would be a real shame. It certainly looks like it when Stormers front rower Sazi Sandi gets sent off for cynical play, and Grant Williams sidesteps his way over the tryline. The Sharks are only three points behind.
Seabelo Senatla is yellow carded leaving the Stormers with 13 players and the Sharks are suddenly in the game with a real shot. A silly comedy of errors ensues and the Stormers tap a penalty over the post for a narrow win.
In the studio John Smit holds no punches. With the Sharks playing against 13 men, he says, “The Sharks could not have played it worse.”
Stormers (4 tries) 29-23 (3 tries) Sharks.
Pictured above: The Stormers taking on the Sharks
Image source: The Stormers
