After dispatching of the visiting Union Bordeaux Bègles at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday, the Cell C Sharks have risen to second place in Pool A of the Heineken Champions Cup and well-placed with one game remaining before the round of 16.
Their 32-3 victory was as emphatic as it was a statement of intent in the competition and with 14 out of a possible 15 log points, have already qualified for the knock-outs.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell, commenting on the game afterwards, paid tribute to the team’s ability to create pressure and dominate the opposition.
“It was a good win and getting five points was important for our journey going forward,” he said. “It was a goal of our to get the bonus point win to go into the next game [against Harlequins in London] with momentum and flow.
“At times it was a bit frustrating because of how scrappy the game became at stages and although there was a bit of rustiness, hopefully we can build on the things that went well going into the Harlequins game.”
A dominant first half was followed up with periods when Bordeaux finally managed to build some momentum of their own, but it was always short-lived or cut down by magnificent defence.
“The flow of a game is often due to the conditions and what the opposition gives you, we were dominant in the first 25-30 minutes and perhaps went out of our structure and attacking shape, making the game a bit too loose which played into Bordeaux’s hands. And that’s what they want, for the game to become scrappy, so it’s something we have will continue to address to be more clinical, to maintain our shape to do keep doing what we ask them to do and not get sucked into the opposition’s plan.”
Amongst Bordeaux’s undoing was earning four yellow cards which didn’t help their cause at all. Powell commented on this, saying, “There was a lot of indiscipline from their side, which made the game difficult and scrappy.”
Game management from his decision-makers also contributed invaluably to the side’s victory, playing in the right areas of the game and keeping Bordeaux pinned in their own half for long periods.
“It’s obviously smart to play to the conditions and know when it’s good to have a go and when it’s not, as well as putting the opposition under pressure with your line-breaks and defence, and that’s what happened. Defensively we were really good, the guys got off the line quickly and put their attack under pressure and we made some good decisions on attack.”
The coaching staff have found themselves with something of a selection headache at scrumhalf where Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams and Cameron Wright are all pushing for starts, with Hendrikse earning the Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance.
But Powell admitted that it is a nice headache to have.
“As a coach, you couldn’t ask for more. It’s great for us to have quality scrumhalves and something we’d like to build in our squad is to have at least two quality players per position, so that we can rotate players. We’re very thankful to have that kind of quality in the squad and hopefully it’s something we can keep building in different positions as well.”
Having qualified for a place in the round of 16 knock-outs means little right now, Powell conceded. There’s still a job to do and right now that’s the team’s only focus.
“Whether we made it into the next round or not, that doesn’t affect how we approach this next game,” he admitted. “There’s still a lot to play for which is a home knock-out game, so if we can get more points from Harlequins, that gives us a better opportunity.”
Home ground advantage is always vital, possibly more so in knock-out games and that adds to the importance they attach to this game.
“If you look at the history of this competition, the teams playing at home have a massive advantage, even in the pool games. So it would be a huge advantage for us to be able to play our knock-out games in Durban.”
As far as injuries go, Powell confirmed that, “We’re confident Curwin will be back this weekend after sustaining a minor hamstring complaint in training on Thursday and we didn’t want to risk him.”
Bongi Mbonambi left the field early with a shoulder injury and his injury will be assessed.
“Hopefully he will recover in time to be ready for the Harlequins game.”
The post Applying the Pressure appeared first on The Sharks.
Dominant Sharks Blitz Bordeaux:
The Cell C Sharks made a grand statement in blowing away Union Bordeaux Begles 32-3 in an utterly dominant Heineken Champions Cup clash at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday.
It was frenetic but also composed, the mark of a team with experience and stature and an ability to control the flow of the game. The French had no answer and will leave Durban knowing they were well beaten.
A big crowd descended on Hollywoodbets Kings Park and the 22784 spectators were treated to a wonderful game of rugby from the Cell C Sharks.
Lionel Cronje, a late replacement for Curwin Bosch before the match started, converted an early penalty after the Cell C Sharks had spent the opening five minutes dominating. They would lead for the remainder of the game.
With barely a sniff of possession, the French found themselves under constant pressure and quick thinking from Jaden Hendrikse to send the ball into space for Makazole Mapimpi to chase almost resulted in a second score. The defence managed to hold out, but at the resulting scrum, Hendrikse was again the man with a plan as he took a quick tap before wriggling through the defence for the opening try on the quarter hour.
Hendrikse scored his second try just shy of the 25th minute, Bordeaux having no answer to the Cell C Sharks’ dominance at scrum time where they conceded a third penalty, the lineout drive was strong before the scrumhalf broke away and scored in the corner, with Cronje adding the extras for a 15-nil lead.
Eh half hour mark and following their fifth penalty at scrum time, Bordeaux lost a prop to the sin bin to compound their woes as they simply couldn’t get into the game. That was mostly because they were denied any momentum by the hostile Cell C Sharks who added a third try, the impressive Gerbrandt Grobler finishing off a concerted run of pick and drives. Cronje’s conversion gave his team a 22-nil lead with eight minutes of the pulsating first half remaining.
Bordeaux had a second opportunity to put their first points on the board on the stroke of half-time, but like the earlier penalty, it wasn’t on target and they went into the changerooms scoreless, denied by a rampant and utterly ruthless Cell C Sharks who were full value for the 22 point lead.
After finally managing to string a period of possession together, Bordeaux earned their first points of the game in the opening five minutes of the second half with a regulation penalty and despite the large margin, they strangely opted for another kick at posts, but missed. Bereft of ideas, their attack lacked energy and ambition as they wilted in the heat and under pressure from the home side.
With the final quarter left to play, there was simply no stopping the surge from the Cell C Sharks who were pushing hard for the bonus point try, which came after a creative effort on attack that had some deft handling and strong running, with Siya Kolisi held up short but having the awareness to pop the ball up to Marnus Potgieter who crashed over for a 27-3 lead.
Two mutes later Potgieter had his brace and the Cell C Sharks’ fifth, scoring in the corner after wonderful work on attack from Kolisi and Mapimpi to extend their lead to 29 points.
Hendrikse earned the Man of the Match award, but this was a victory built of a team effort and the win keeps them unbeaten with next week’s away clash against Harlequins the final game of the pool stages.
The post Dominant Sharks Blitz Bordeaux appeared first on The Sharks.
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