MATCH REVIEW: Sharks Win Arm-Wrestle:
The final match of the final pool match in the EPCR Challenge Cup would have no bearing on the Hollywoodbets Sharks first place finish, but they took home the spoils in emphatic fashion, beating the Dragons 29-9 on Sunday evening.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks went into this match top of the log and a 91 points differential advantage over second-placed Pau, meaning they had already done enough to secure a home match in the round of 16.
The game was tight and for three-quarters of the match, the winner wasn’t assured until the Hollywoodbets Sharks ran away with the result in the second half as they blew away their Welsh opponents in tough conditions.
The home side capitalised on some momentum on attack to force a penalty in the sixth minute to open the scoring with a three-pointer and then doubled their score with a second penalty inside the opening minutes of the second quarter following some aerial ping-pong in some pretty difficult conditions with the rain teeming down and the wind howling.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks struck back with venom, a sustained and sustainable build-up, a real team try featuring every player in the effort, patience and accuracy rewarded with the first try of the game in the 35th minute with Curwin Bosch converting to push his team into a one-point lead.
The dominance, particularly up front, led to the second try and it couldn’t have come at a better time, Ox Nche driving over from a quick tap penalty following an excellent forward-dominated effort that culminated in the score on the stroke of half-time to go into the changerooms leading 12-6.
With the tough weather conditions continuing in the second half, both sides battled to string together any sustainable attacking opportunities, with the third quarter characterised mostly by sending the ball into the air to force mistakes.
The only score came from the Dragons, a third penalty on the 60 minute mark cutting the deficit to three points with the final 20 minutes left to play.
The narrow lead was troubling before the forwards once more stepped into the breach and delivered, a 20m driving maul, shifting the direction and drive before Man of the Match Gerbrandt Grobler smashed his way over for the third try and an eight-point lead.
Le Roux Roets was too strong for the defence and he powered his way over for the bonus point try three minutes shy of full-time, the forwards once again dominating, starting from a scrum penalty, to a driving maul and then close-quarter smashing the ball up. Bosch converted for a 24-9 lead.
It wasn’t over and there was time for one more, just enough time – five seconds really – for a lovely break from the exciting Grant Williams before kicking the ball for Werner Kok to run on to, to close out a game dominated by the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
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Preview: Dragons RFC vs Hollywoodbets Sharks:
The final round of the EPCR Challenge Cup pool stages takes place this weekend with the Hollywoodbets Sharks taking on the Dragons at the 8700 seater Rodney Parade Stadium in Newport on Sunday evening.
A win carries meaning in numerous ways for the Hollywoodbets Sharks who are top of the log, but know that this could all change if they don’t perform to their potential. Added to that is a season that is starting to flow nicely and another win would help to build some momentum and continuity.
Neither side will be using history as a motivating factor, although the last meeting was somewhat one-sided when the Hollywoodbets Sharks beat the Dragons 69-14 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park back in November.
In the last meeting between the two teams in Wales, the result was much closer, just one point separating the victorious Hollywoodbets Sharks team, who prevailed 20-19 in October, 2022.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks go into the final weekend of the group stages top of Pool A, although by the time they play in the final match of the round on Sunday evening, that may have changed following the results of the other teams’ performances within the pool.
Regardless of that, they will look to finish on a high, and certainly top of the pool to ensure home ground advantage for the round of 16.
Playing at Hollywoodbets Kings Park also means no travel and no freezing conditions.
“We’ve had a good, but challenging day or two, and we arrived a day earlier to make sure we maximise our recovery time,” explains Hollywoodbets Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell.
“The conditions here [in Wales] aren’t ideal, it’s bitterly cold and the field was frozen for our practice session, so we know it’s going to be uncomfortable for us this weekend, but we need to create our own comfort in the way we approach this game and embrace the fact that it’s going to be wet and cold.
“We’ve planned our game and week around what we can expect which is not comfortable or the best conditions, but the guys have bought into it.”
The Dragons have one win to the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ two in the first three rounds of the pool stages and a victory for the home side could throw the cat amongst the pigeons as far as entry into the knock-outs goes which all makes for added motivation – for both sides.
“We’ve embraced the challenge that lies ahead and we expect a physical battle with lots of kicking because it’s going to be a wet and windy game,” Powell points out.
“But we are up for the challenge and looking forward to hopefully getting a successful outcome against the Dragons away.
“We’re happy with where we are and happy with the plan we want to impose on them and hopefully that will be enough for us to get a win.”
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