Following the Sharks’ 21-15 victory over Cardiff in Durban, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship encounter.
The top line
It wasn’t pretty. It was hard-fought, error-ridden, but for the Sharks, it’s a much-needed win and for Cardiff, another loss on the road.
It’s a crucial one for the Durbanites as they continue their unlikely bid for a place in the last eight, scoring three tries to Cardiff’s two.
Phepsi Buthelezi grabbed a brace of tries at the back of a powerful driving maul, with Yaw Penxe dotting down for a third before the half-time whistle.
Mason Grady crossed for both of Cardiff’s tries as the hosts went into the break leading 21-12 with Ioan Lloyd’s penalty in the 72nd minute being the only contribution either side made to the scoreboard in the final 40.
Sharks’ driving force
In typical Durban conditions, hot, humid and a bit wet, JP Pietersen’s charges managed to overcome the silly errors, poor decisions and lacklustre execution of core skills by simply battering the Cardiff pack. It certainly helps the cause when you have the luxury of popping two World Cup-winning, world-class props in Ox Nche and Vincent Koch on the bench and injecting them with 10 minutes to go before the half-time whistle.
The impact of the front-rowers wasn’t at scrum time but rather in the maul, with Koch ensuring that referee Gianluca Gnecchi spotted Cardiff’s illegalities during the maul set-up, getting the Sharks even deeper into the opposition’s 22. From there, the duo played their part in Buthelezi’s second try.
Pietersen and his coaching team will nit-pick the issues in attack, and the odd lapse in defence but the lineout was a driving force in the victory – spearheaded by the excellent, yet understated Emile van Heerden. The 25-year-old has been working with the suspended Eben Etzebeth in recent weeks, but all involved certainly deserve their plaudits as the Sharks regularly managed to secure possession at the set-piece and disrupt Cardiff’s ball.
An indication of just how well-oiled the machine the Sharks’ lineout and maul tactics are was Buthelezi’s second try. Cardiff managed to splinter the drive somewhat, and Jason Jenkins broke away with Buthelezi right behind him. Realising that he could create an obstruction, Jenkins stopped dead in his tracks and his back-rower broke away to run through. It’s subtle, easy to miss, but it mattered.
The Sharks’ lineout produced two of their three tries and consistently robbed Cardiff of possession, in key areas too. The hosts finished with a 94 per cent success rate on their own ball whilst Cardiff’s sat at a meagre 70 per cent. It’s worth noting that the Welsh outfit are enduring a minor lock crisis, but still, the Sharks managed to pinch seven lineout throws against the head. Van der Heerden and Vincent Tshituka working brilliantly in tandem to wreak the havoc.
At scrum time, matters did not improve for Cardiff as the Sharks managed to consistently eke out penalties, though the visitors did get a favourable call or two from Gnecchi. But overall, the Durbanites’ excellence in the set-pieces was just too much of an obstacle to overcome, particularly in these conditions.
And when they did manage to get parity, Andre Esterhuizen came battering down Callum Sheedy’s channelling, putting the fly in fly-half as he swatted the Welshman aside and required several defenders to drag him to ground and by which stage, Cardiff were on the backfoot again.
Cardiff adapt but overpowered
There were some positives for Corniel van Zyl to take from this encounter despite being outclassed at the set-pieces, and it’s not just the fight spirit – that’s a given with Welsh teams.
Instead, it was the ingenuity and problem-solving that resulted in the two tries. The first came from a perfectly executed tap play close to the Sharks’ line, which freed up the space outwide, leaving Grady an easy walk-in for the five-pointer.
The second came quickly after the Sharks were down to 14 men, with Jordan Hendrikse found guilty of an intentional knock on that would have resulted in a linebreak. Knowing that the Sharks would be narrow on defence, particularly in their 22, Ben Thomas brilliantly kicked across the field for his winger, who was never going to spoil that opportunity.
Cardiff have certainly struggled on the road in recent times, but today they were up for the dogfight and stuck in the battle right through to the final whistle despite their set-piece malfunctions. Ultimately, it was a moment of brilliance from Penxe from a loose ball that decided the match.
Test watch
Limited to a cameo off the bench in Pretoria last week, James Botham returned to a starting role and ultimately a starring one as he picked up from where he left off in the Six Nations for Wales. He was brutally effective on defence and at the breakdown, forcing errors from the hosts and just being an all-round pest for Pietersen’s charges. The 28-year-old really looks to be coming into his own this year, which is only a good thing for club and country.
While Botham got the nod for the Championship, Sheedy did not and while Steve Tandy isn’t short on fly-half options, the Cardiff man surely deserves a bit more consideration. It was far from box-office in Durban but he did so much well, particularly in the kicking battle where the visitors got real purchase.
Grady’s two tries were easy scores for a player of his calibre, but they still need to be scored and he scored them. Still, much of what Cardiff did well originated from the imposing back’s efforts. He troubled Makazole Mapimpi under the high ball on occasion, made a lovely break only to be denied by an outstanding cover tackle by Esterhuizen, and regularly gained metres in a match where that yardage was hard to come by in the backs.
Rassie Erasmus is spoilt for choice when it comes to scrum-halves and that is plainly evident with Bradley Davids barely registering on his radar. In fairness to the Sharks’ rookie, this was only his second appearance of the campaign because of injury, but he looks to be quickly hitting his stride. Sure, it was far from perfect with a plainly stupid quick tap penalty in his own half, presumably called by Jordan Hendrikse, judging by Esterhuizen’s reaction and a chip over the top in Cardiff’s half that was simply not on. But his kicking and distribution on the whole were solid as his side ground out a much-needed win.
Esterhuizen again showed why he was such a crucial cog for the Springboks last year and why he has been elevated to the Sharks captain under Pietersen. It’s hard to remember when he last had a poor outing, and he is incredibly demanding of those around him. It was much the same today as he set the standards and put in another strong, solid shift.
Erasmus has invited 70-odd players to his alignment camps so far this year but three Sharks players have been overlooked, which may well start to pique his interest in Buthelezi, Jenkins and Van Heerden. The Bok boss has noted the lack of depth at lock and the latter pair could well come into the reckoning. They were powerful and accurate in just about everything they did today and while it’s a tough challenge to break into that squad, they are making a good fist of it.
Meanwhile, Buthelezi was relentless in the carries and took home the man of the match award for his efforts. It was a real grafter’s shift in the absence of Siya Kolisi, and while both his tries came from the maul prowress, he timed his breakaways to perfection.
Finally, Tshituka only enhanced his chances of adding to the single Test caps he earned last year.
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Race to Eight implications
Cardiff jumped between fifth and third during the match but finished in the former position at the final whistle and may well drop even further down the log depending on results elsewhere this weekend.
With derbies against Scarlets and Ospreys after the EPCR break, it’s squeaky bum time for Van Zyl’s charges, whose final two games of the regular season are against Glasgow (away) and the Stormers (home).
Oval Insights ranked the Sharks’ probability of making the final eight at 31 per cent before the first whistle in Durban with Cardiff’s at 67. Those numbers will have surely changed by now but both teams will be pondering over a single point. For the Sharks, it was the one that they didn’t claim, the bonus point try, as the attack flattered to deceive far too often, particularly on turnover ball. While a bitterly disappointed Cardiff will be marginally relieved that they at least managed to take away a losing bonus point for their efforts.
Still, a one-point return from two matches in South Africa is a crushing tally for a team vying for a place in the play-offs.
READ MORE: Siya Kolisi’s absence explained while JP Pietersen clarifies Springboks speedster’s omission