The Cell C Sharks’ fightback against the DHL Stormers in their tense Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash on Saturday came agonisingly close to being a satisfying away win.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell felt for his players who had fought their way back into the game and came agonisingly close to winning.
“There was a lot of effort out there and for the team, I wish they’d got a better result than the one they did, they deserved that. It was an opportunity, we were in the game in the last eight minutes, but one or two mistakes from individuals prevented us from getting on top of them and score the final blow that would have won the game. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.”
Reflecting on the period of the game when the Stormers were down to 13 men and the Cell C Sharks had fought back from a perilous position to one where they could have forced a result in their favour, Powell said, “Inaccuracies at the end, not accurate enough in those eight minutes.
“We got on top of them, we played the game with patience and waited patiently to get them on the back foot and then try to stay on top of them. Just inaccuracies that prevented us from getting out of our half and then the pressure was back on us.
“The guys showed a lot of confidence out there, but just individual inaccuracies. In the first half there was a lot of ill-discipline that put us on the back foot, we know that the Stormers are a team that feed off your mistakes and that’s how they scored their first three tries.
“The it becomes difficult playing catch-up rugby.”
The half-time break signalled an opportunity to right the ship and that was exactly what happened in a game of two halves.
“At half-time we told the guys not to go into the catch-up game, to keep believing in the plan we’d put out for them and just be disciplined and stick to the plan. The guys did and that showed in the second half.
“I don’t think it’s a confidence thing, the guys are starting to believe that they are good enough as a team to come to a Cape Town and put the Stormers away. The guys can only play what we’ve set out for them to play, one can say they should perhaps have kept the ball in hand, they know exactly how we want to play and they stuck to that in the second half.
“They played the way we wanted them to play in the second half a lot better.”
The URC now takes a break and the Cell C Sharks are back in action in week 16, traveling to Wales to take on the Scarletts and with three matches left in the pool stages, Powell admitted that there is plenty to fight for.
“It now becomes a win-at-all-costs scenario,” he said. “Going to Wales and getting a result against Scarletts will be tough, although we will have the services of our Boks for that game. But it does get tricky playing away and then coming back home to play the Round of 16 against Munster.
“We have a bit of a break now and plan how we’re going to approach these two games and make sure we get it right on the day.”
The post Fighting until the End appeared first on The Sharks.
The Cell C Sharks went down 29-23 to the DHL Stormers in their return leg Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon as they fought hard for the win.
The Stormers are riding high in the competition, their home ground a fortress they haven’t been defeated at in 18 games and they continued their form this year over a Cell C Sharks side that threw everything into the game.
At one stage in the second half, the Stormers looked to have sewn up the result, but for a heroic fightback that saw the Cell C Sharks come agonisingly close to upsetting the applecart. It was a brave effort late in the game and a result that could easily have gone the other way.
The Cell C Sharks were forced to defend manfully in the opening 10 minute stanza but stood up to the task bravely before good pressure forced an error that got them onto the front foot, captain Curwin Bosch having no hesitation in pointing to the posts and converting the first penalty of the game.
But their majority share of possession saw the home side build up a head of momentum that saw them open their scoring, taking the ball through a few phases off an attacking lineout before scoring the first try of the game for a 5-3 lead in the 15th minute.
Just shy of the 20th minute, the Cell C Sharks went back into the lead with a penalty from right in front when the Stormers tackled a man without the ball with the visitors on the attack. But a minute later, an awful turn of events materialised when an up and under went directly into the sky, possession was retained but a long pass was intercepted and the Stormers scored their second try. This time the conversion was successful and the home side had a 12-6 lead.
The home side extended their lead to 19-6 after a scrum battle that saw them attack from inside the Cell C Sharks’ 22 and send the ball out wide for their third try with seven minutes of the first half remaining.
There was no further change to the score as the Cell C Sharks looked to play in the right areas of the field and avoid giving the home side any territorial advantage.
The third quarter saw plenty of action without results, both sides having opportunities to make inroads but both opponents up for the challenge on defence until the home side were held up just short of the tryline, but managed to send the ball wide for their fourth try and a 20 point lead with 25 minutes remaining.
Moments later, the Cell C Sharks struck gold, Yaw Penxe scoring in the corner off a deft kick ahead and the closure of a well-worked effort to reduce the lead to 26-11 with the final quarter left to play.
The Cell C Sharks weren’t finished yet, with 14 minutes remaining following a good scrum and maul, centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg took the ball at speed, avoided every defensive effort with power and brute strength to smash his way through the defenders and over the line, Bosch’s conversion cutting the lead to eight points.
The tide of momentum had completely changed into the Cell C Sharks’ favour as some stunning solo magic from scrumhalf Grant Williams as he threaded his way through the defence to score the third try. The Stormers had lost a man for a cynical tackle moments earlier, and then lost another for a kick trip that still couldn’t stop Williams and would spend the remaining seven minutes defending their three point lead with only 13 men.
A nail-biting ending to the game wasn’t enough to overcome the home side who had a late penalty to kick themselves to a six point win.
For the Cell C Sharks, the bonus point was important in keeping them in seventh place on the log.
The post Brave Fightback appeared first on The Sharks.
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