By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Very few fans expected Gloucester’s scrum to stand up to the Sharks’ front row, but the dominance of Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche was spectacular.
The first four scrums resulted in four penalties for the Sharks and a warning from referee Mathieu Raynal, causing Gloucester captain Lewis Ludlow to throw up his hands in desperation.
“What must I do?” he asked.
“I’m the referee, you’re the captain. You have to work out something,” said Raynal.
It took until the 25th minute for Phepsi Buthelezi to burst through the Gloucester scrum for the Sharks’ first try, but by then the shoulders of the Gloucester forwards were already hanging.
Brilliant flyhalf Siya Masuku made a strong statement for Springbok colours in the upcoming match against Wales, scoring eight out of nine kicks to the posts with Aphelele Fassi and Makazole Mapimpi scoring tries.
Man of the match Vincent Kock even surprised everybody including himself with a kick-ahead that would have made any flyhalf proud.
Asked after the match if he had planned to kick he smiled and said, no.
“I’ve never done that before. I don’t know what I was doing,” he said.
The scoreline was made to look better with three Gloucester tries in the last 20 minutes, making the scores look a lot closer than the match ever was.
Eben Etzebeth is tipped for Springbok captaincy against Wales and he didn’t hurt his chances in the least last night. It was a true captain’s role. There is no doubt where the Sharks’ leadership comes from.
Gloucester 22-36 Hollywoodbets Sharks
Gloucester tries: Albert Tuisue, Santiago Socino, Freddie Clarke
Sharks tries: Phendulani Buthelezi, Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi
Pictured above: Vincent Koch and Eben Etzebeth
Image source: @urcofficial_rsa
