Following a poor 44-17 defeat to Connacht in the United Rugby Championship clash at the Dexcom Stadium in Galway on Saturday, here are the player ratings for the Sharks.
Backs
15 Jordan Hendrikse: One good take in the air aside, there was little to write home about. Sharks failed to control the kicking battle and that should be one of Hendrikse’s strengths. 4
14 Edwill van der Merwe: The Sharks have yet to get the best out of the wing since his move from the Lions, which is not helping his Springboks ambitions. Van der Merwe once again failed to make much of an impact. 5
13 Jurenzo Julius: Usually an excitement machine whenever he plays, but it says a lot that Julius struggled to get into this game. They just couldn’t open up any space for him, while there were also some defensive errors. 4
12 Francois Venter: Showed his power at times by carrying into the heart of the Connacht defence, but the attack was so static that Venter was generally running into brick walls. 5
11 Makazole Mapimpi: Back after his ban which rather ludicrously included the Springboks’ November matches, given that he was only on the standby list. But, like his fellow outside backs, it was a difficult day. One of a number of Springboks to struggle. 5
10 George Whitehead: Making his debut, the 36-year-old began well enough before it all started to unravel. Whitehead was relatively solid but could not spark the attack and stood too deep. 5
9 Jaden Hendrikse: It has not been a good couple of seasons for the Springboks scrum-half and he struggled once again in Galway, eventually being hooked at the interval. 4
Forwards
8 Emmanuel Tshituka: At times it felt like the Tshituka brothers were fighting a lone battle. Emmanuel wasn’t quite as effective as his brother but he certainly did his best to impact the game before he eventually went off. 6
7 Vincent Tshituka (c): Lineout was probably one of only two areas – scrum being the other – in which the Sharks had the edge on Connacht and Tshituka was the main reason for that. He got up well and competed, earning two or three turnovers in the process. 7
6 Matt Romao: A young player making his way in the game but it was a big learning curve for him in Galway against an outstanding Connacht loose trio. 5
5 Marvin Orie: Did his bit in the lineout but struggled to physically impose himself against Connacht, who had the better of the Sharks in most facets. 5
4 Jason Jenkins: Copped a yellow card and, despite a couple of rumbles, it was not really his day, although that could be said for a lot of his team-mates. 5
3 Hanro Jacobs: As mentioned, the scrum had its moments with Jacobs to the fore, but Connacht’s dominance elsewhere made it a non-factor. 6
2 Fez Mbatha: Did his core role well, which is better than most of the Sharks side on Saturday, with his lineout throwing generally accurate. Mbatha also scored a try and contributed in the scrum. 6
1 Phatu Ganyane: Similar to Jacobs, there was plenty to like about his set-piece work, but that was about it as the hosts controlled matters. 6
Replacements: They didn’t make things worse, but the bench certainly did not give the Sharks the impact they needed. Grant Williams was an improvement on Jaden Hendrikse but it was not enough to turn the tide in the second period as the visitors sunk to a new low. 5
READ MORE: Bulls player ratings: Snubbed Springboks duo ‘best of a bad bunch’ in loss to Lions