After their 26-10 defeat in their Investec Champions Cup clash against Sale Sharks at the CorpAcq Stadium, here’s how the Sharks players performed on Saturday.
Sharks player ratings v Sale Sharks
15 Hakeem Kunene: The young full-back made a superb line break late in the opening half but was hauled in by Tom O’Flaherty deep inside Sale‘s territory. Continued to ask questions of the home side’s defence and was solid under the high ball. 6
14 Yaw Penxe: The experienced winger made some powerful runs early on, but he was kept in check by the home side’s defence and made little impact as the match progressed. 5
13 Francois Venter: The former Springboks centre was only on the field for 30 minutes before being forced off with an injury and did what was expected of him during that time with Marnus Potgieter coming on to replace him. 5
12 Jurenzo Julius: Like most of his teammates, the young centre had some good moments during the first 40 minutes but it was a different story after the break as he missed some tackles on defence. He continued to give his all on attack, however, but made little impact in the grander scheme of things. 5
11 Le-Roux Malan: Not much to report here as he was restricted mostly to chasing high balls and when he went onto the attack, he made little headway. 4
10 Siya Masuku: The Sharks’ playmaker played well during the first half as he kept Sale pinned inside their half with intelligent kicks out of hand. Less influential in the second half and replaced by Jean Smith in the 66th minute. 5
9 Ross Braude: The Canadian international started the game brightly as he varied his play superbly in the first half with clever offloads to his forwards as well as some box kicks and a crisp service to his outside backs. Sale held an edge in the second half, which made things more difficult for him and Ceano Everson replaced him in the final quarter. 6
The forwards
8 Nick Hatton (c): The Sharks skipper on the night was in the thick of the action as he did what was expected of him as a ball carrier and also put in some big hits on defence. 6
7 Emmanuel Tshituka: The 25-year-old took the fight to Sale throughout as he was a willing ball carrier and showed his class with a superb individual try in the second half. The Springboks hopeful was his side’s shining light as he also put his body on the line on defence and competed ferociously at the breakdowns. 8
6 Tino Mavesere: The Zimbabwe international made an excellent start to this encounter as he was prominent either side of the ball during the first half but was less influential after the break. Mavesere lasted 64 minutes before he was replaced by Matt Romao. 6
5 Emile van Heerden: The former South Africa U20 star was a vital source of possession in the lineouts but did not come out for the second half with Vincent Tshituka replacing him. 5
4 Corne Rahl: The inexperienced second-row can be happy with his efforts as he put in a big shift for the full 80 minutes. Rahl did what was expected of him in the lineouts and also did well on defence. 6
3 Vincent Koch: The double Rugby World Cup winner won an early scrum penalty for his team and continued to stand up well in the set-piece against England international Bevan Rodd as the match progressed, before he was replaced by Mawande Mdanda early in the second half. 7
2 Eddie Swart: The former Scarlets hooker can be happy with his efforts as he was solid in the execution of his core duties with his lineout throw-ins accurate throughout and he also did well defensively. Replaced by Ethan Bester after 63 minutes. 6
1 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko: Like Koch, he was only on the field until early in the second half before Phatu Ganyane replaced him, but Mazibuko put in a solid scrummaging performance during his time on the field. 6
Replacements: Amongst the backs, Potgieter was the best of the lot as he impressed as a ball carrier and put in some big defensive hits when he entered the fray in the first half. Meanwhile, Vincent Tshituka also impressed in the tight exchanges when he came on at the start of the second half, but the rest of the replacements made little impact. 5
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