Sharks survive Lions' late surge

MATCH REPORT:  Sharks kept their winning run intact with a 43-31 win over a spirited Lions team at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Sharks register their third consecutive Currie Cup match, while at the same time condemning the Highvelders to their third straight loss in Johannesburg on Saturday.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!! 

The visiting side went into the halftime break firmly in command with the score 20-7 in their favour at Ellis Park, and the win pushed them to the top of the Currie Cup standings.

It was a determined Lions outfit that came roaring back in the second half, scoring four tries to deliver a much-improved performance after the break.

In the end, they matched the Sharks' overall tally of five tries, however, the difference was their tendency to concede penalties at regular intervals, which allowed Boeta Chamberlain and Sanele Nohamba to kick four successful penalty goals, which ultimately proved the difference.

The Lions got the match off to a perfect start when right wing Boldwin Hansen exploited a lapse in the Sharks' defence to snatch a high bouncing ball away from Yaw Penxe, turning on the speed dial to score under the posts. Vaughen Isaacs added the extras to give them a 7-0 lead.

But the Joburg side themselves then had a soft moment which allowed hard-running Sharks left wing Marnus Potgieter to cut inside and beat the cover defence for the visitors' quick response. Chamberlain slotted the conversion from a difficult angle to level the scores at 7-7 and with a lot of rugby still to be played in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Jozi side, Hansen had to leave the field halfway through the opening stanza due to a leg injury and he was replaced by the experienced Fred Zeilinga.

Meanwhile, Cameron Wright exploited the home side's brittle defence once more when he was allowed to break from the back of a solid scrum to score out wide for another converted try. Apart from the conversion, Chamberlain also added two penalty goals to stretch the visitors' halfway lead to 13 points.

The home side's lineout was also a cause for concern as they allowed their opposing jumpers to spoil many throw-ins, thereby depriving them from a good attacking platform.

The KwaZulu-Natalians quickly got into their stride after the restart, scoring further tries through loose forwards Thembelani Bholi and Mpilo Gumede as well as replacement hooker Dan Jooste. The Highvelders were not to be outdone as they managed to cross the whitewash on four occasions.

Loose forward Emmanuel Tshituka went over the line from close while left wing Divan Rossouw made the most of Vincent Tshituka's power surge to dot down near the corner. Later on Morne Brandon and James Mollentze also helped themselves five pointers.

Three Sharks players were shown yellow cards for two dangerous tackles and a cynical foul, namely Wright, Bradley Davids and OJ Noa.

Man of the match: Cameron Wright and Celimpilo Gumede had a couple of good moments respectively. While Vincent Tshituka was a standout performer for the Lions. However, our nod goes to Sharks lock Reniel Hugo, who was in fine form at the set-pieces and he was solid in defence.

The scorers:

For Lions:

Tries: Hansen, E. Tshituka, Rossouw, Brandon, Mollentze

Cons: Isaacs 3

For Sharks:

Tries: Potgieter, Wright, Bholi, Gumedi, Jooste

Cons: Chamberlain 2, Nohambe

Pens: Chamberlain 3, Nohambe

Yellow cards: Cameron Wright (Sharks, 46 - Dangerous Tackle), Bradley Davids (Sharks, 69  - Cynical foul play)  OJ Noa (Sharks, 75 - high tackle)

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 James Mollentze, 12 Matt More, 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Vaughen Isaacs, 9 Jurich Claasens, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Simon Dinisio, 4 PJ Steenkamp, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (captain), 2 Dameon Venter, 1 JP Smith.

Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Chergin Fillies, 19 Lunga Ncube 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Tyler Bocks.

Sharks: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Murray Koster, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 James Venter (Captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Khwezi Mona.

Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Emile van Heerden, 20 OJ Noa, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Inny Radebe, 23 Bradley Davids

Referee: AJ Jacobs

Assistant Referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Local

TMO: Marius Jonker

Source: SA rugby