Bosch stars as Sharks compound Lions' woes at Ellis Park

URC REPORT: The Lions are still without a win against fellow South African opposition this season after they suffered a 7-29 defeat to the Sharks in a Round 14 clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The visitors scored four on their way to a hard-fought victory, which also means they get a valuable bonus point.

Flyhalf Curwin Bosch was the star of the show as he scored 14 of his team's points, which included a great try. He also created a try in the second half.

The Lions, who struggled to build any sort of momentum in the game, could only cross the whitewash once and that was in the first half.

In fact, the scores were level at 7-7 at the break before the Sharks pulled away in the second half.

The Lions had an opportunity to build a steady lead in the first 21 minutes with three shots at goal, but flyhalf Gianni Lombard was unable to slot them, and the Sharks eventually had the first say with Bosch darting through two defenders before stepping on the gas through the defence to score the first try in the 26th minute.

The visitors were dealt a blow minutes later as loose forward Vincent Tshituka received a yellow card for an infringement at a ruck and the home side had the luxury of 10 minutes with an extra man.

They made good use of this with Lions captain and centre Marius Louw finding his way through the defence in the 33rd minute close to the tryline and the successful conversion levelled the scores going into the break.

The Durbanites picked up where they left off when the second half resumed with wing Thaakir Abrahams touching down in the corner nine minutes into play, and Bosch’s conversion allowed them to extend their score.

They continued to apply pressure on attack and the rewards followed with replacement hooker Fez Mbatha crashing over in the 67th minute to extend their lead to 22-8 with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock.

The KwaZulu-Natalians continued to make the most of their opportunities as the match closed out with Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams dotting down from a great chip kick from Bosch in the 73rd minute to close out the match and secure the bonus point.

Player of the match

Bustling fly-half Curwin Bosch was a hive of activity as he orchestrated the Sharks' victory.

The finish for his 27th-minute try was pure class and it was his grubber that set-up halfback partner Grant Williams for the score that secured the bonus point with six minutes remaining.

Play of the game

Bosch's try was as much about the flyhalf's awareness of the defensive line as his athleticism.

Spotting that prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and lock Ruben Schoeman were stationed in midfield, he exploited the mismatch by switching on the afterburners and racing over with full-back Quan Horn unable to catch him.

The scorers:

For Lions:

Try: Louw

Con: Lombard

For Sharks:

Tries: Bosch, Abrahams, Mbatha, Williams

Cons: Bosch 3

Pen: Bosch

Yellow cards: Vincent Tshituka (Sharks, 32' - repeated infringements, slowing the ball down); Marius Louw (Lions,

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabs Maxwane, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.

Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruhan Delport, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Ruhan Straeuli, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), 7 Henco Venter, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Reniel Hugo, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Dan Jooste, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Vincent Tshituka, 20 Dylan Richardson, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Cameron Wright, 23 Ben Tapuai.

Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)

Assistant Referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa) & Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)

TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

Additional source: SA Rugby