Disappointment against Cardiff:
The Hollywoodbets Sharks went down 36-14 to Cardiff Rugby at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday in their penultimate Vodacom United Rugby Championship match of the 2023/24 season.
The Durban side had to play most of the game with 14 men which proved too much of a hurdle for a much-changed side, with 20 players away in England preparing for the EPCR Challenge Cup Final next Friday evening.
The opening quarter hour was a scoreless affair, before the visitors managed to drive over from an attacking lineout. The conversion gave them a seven-point lead before catastrophe struck five minutes later, flank Tino Mavesere sent from the field for the remainder of the game for a head high tackle and from that point on, Cardiff were always going to have the advantage.
It was the turning point in the game and they made sure of making it count, the forwards again instrumental in driving over, the conversion successful again.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks fought back bravely and were rewarded a few minutes later when the ball was ripped from them on attack in Cardiff’s 22, but the loose ball evaded the defence and outside centre Diego Appollis pounced to score his team’s first try, converted for a 14-7 scoreline.
Two more tries from Cardiff, the first some strong running from their own centre, and then the forwards rumbling the ball up took them 26-7 up with just a few minutes of the half remaining.
Cardiff conceded a scrum for ball wasting as the half-time break beckoned and a strong period of attack gave promise to a second try, but Cardiff managed to hold the Hollywoodbets Sharks out to take a 19 point lead into the changerooms.
Cardiff scored first in the second half, the one man advantage in the scrum earning them a penalty and with the bonus point sewn up in the first half, they opted for posts rather than the corner to stretch their lead to 22 points.
With 10 minutes of the game left, Cardiff once more made the numbers advantage count, this time stretching the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ defence as they ran hard at the Durban to score in the corner.
A charge-down by captain Reniel Hugo led to a loose ball that Curwin Bosch hacked ahead and he won the sprint to touch down just before the ball went over the dead ball line, converting with two minutes remaining.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks fought for a final score, but running the ball from their own territory proved a little too much to accomplish and they were left to contemplate the 36-14 loss, having been competitive but were always going to be under pressure.
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Quick Durban KwaZulu-Natal Fact: Sardine Run – An extraordinary natural phenomenon, that is witnessed annually on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, during late autumn or early winter, is the “sardine run”. Also referred to as “the greatest shoal on earth”, the sardine run occurs when millions of sardines migrate from their spawning grounds south of the southern tip of Africa, northwards along the Eastern Cape coastline towards KwaZulu-Natal, following a path close inshore, often resulting in many fish washing up on beaches along the coast. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for many kilometres and is followed and preyed upon by thousands of predators, including game fish, sharks, dolphins and seabirds. Usually the shoals break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban. Many questions surrounding this exceptional event remain unanswered.
