Cell C Sharks Triumphant – Featured Durban Blog

The Cell C Sharks delivered a strong statement of intent ahead of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition when they soundly defeated the Cheetahs 35-7 in an intense warm-up match at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Friday evening.

Head Coach Robert du Preez did admit in the build-up to the match that while the result wasn’t as important as the performance, he would have been pleased with both. A five try to one win and some excellent results of their hard work is what happened on a balmy February evening against the reigning Currie Cup champions.

With the ball in hand approach the team has embraced, du Preez admitted that two areas they have focused on during pre-season – fitness and skills – would be under scrutiny in this game.

There was no shortage of intent from either side and neither team was going to hold back in this encounter as they hammered away at each other from the start. Early season nerves and a lack of game time meant that the game stuttered at times in the first half, but it was still exciting stuff.

Unfortunately, with the Cell C Sharks down to 13 men, centre Nico Lee scored the first try of the game after the first quarter had been played, the Cheetahs taking advantage of their superior numbers on attack.

To their credit, the Cell C Sharks managed to stave off everything else the visitors tried, proving particularly effective in countering the Cheetahs’ attempted rolling mauls.

But never underestimate a Sharks’ side down on their luck and back to 15 men, a strong build-up on attack with Andre Esterhuizen prominent, saw Coenie Oosthuizen going over for his team’s opening try. They had started to find their rhythm in their first competitive match in over four months. When captain Pat Lambie converted, it was even at seven points each with time almost up for half-time.

In the third minute of the second half, Kobus van Wyk twisted and turned through the desperate defence to score the second try, with Lambie converting from directly in front. With their tails in the air and a spring in their step brought about by their confidence that what they were doing was paying dividends, they started to assert themselves and pushed hard for a third score.

That came after a raft of replacements had been made – seven at the three quarter mark – replacement Johan Deysel running onto the perfect pass and scything through the defence to score with his first touch of the ball.

The fourth try (although there were no bonus points involved) came about from an enterprising cross-kick grubber from Tera Mtembu who has missed a lot of rugby but showed why he is so highly-rated. With ten minutes of play remaining, he did the only thing possible to keep the attack going, with Cobus Reinach, also back from long term injury, hacking the bobbling ball ahead and picking up and scoring.

Jean Droste was the final player in an impressive build-up to the last try of the game, a real team effort. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, on for Pat Lambie at flyhalf knocked over a couple of conversions.

The Cheetahs might have dominated some of the early play during periods of the first half, but they simply had no answer to the Cell C Sharks in a resurgent second half when they really found their feet and dominated in every facet.

Captain Pat Lambie said he was happy afterwards, explaining that “There were a lot of positives to take out of tonight’s games. We got rid of some cobwebs and it’s nice to get some game time under the belt.”

In the early game, The Sharks scored two tries to defeat their Free State counterparts 14-0.