Sharks denied victory in Sydney
by Brenden Nel | 06 March 2010 (12:45)
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| Daniel Halangahu © Gallo Images |
The Sharks were denied their first victory of this year’s Vodacom Super 14, when the Waratahs held out for a close 25-21 victory in Sydney on Saturday.
Blow-by-blow scoring
But while they were beaten, the Sharks can feel greatly aggrieved by a number of home town decisions by Australian referee Paul Marks, who refused to award a crucial penalty try when Kurtley Beale committed a professional foul that denied them a try two minutes before the end.
Sharks captain John Smit was perplexed with Marks’s calls -- which included two yellow cards early on in the match -- and a late penalty for obstruction which had the visitors shaking their heads that ended their challenge for the match.
However, in a match where things definitely didn’t go their way, the Sharks can hold their heads high after their disappointing start to the season. On this form, they definitely will turn the corner soon with the amount of character in their side.
The crucial call that killed them though, came shortly before the final whistle. Stefan Terblanche broke on the blind side, and had only to send the pass out to Ryan Kankowski for the winning try when Beale stepped between them and slapped the ball down in deliberate fashion.
While Marks gave a yellow card for a deliberate knock down, he was deaf to the Sharks cries for a penalty try, especially as there was no defender ahead of Kankowski and the try would most certainly have been scored. Marks could only have been swayed by the fact the incident occurred on the 22 metre line.
The ensuing penalty against the Sharks when they were forming a maul was equally perplexing, and virtually handed the Waratahs the game on a platter.
Still, after being down to 13 men early on, the Sharks fought bravely to get themselves back within a score of winning.
The scoreline was six-all when the first yellow was flashed. Jannie du Plessis, the same player penalised at the end in the lineout, stuck his foot out to deliberately trip Danile Halangahu, who was following his own kick, and got ten minutes for his troubles.
Whether it was worth a yellow card was debatable, but even Smit argued with Marks a minute later when Andy Goode was flashed a similar card for slowing down the ball on his own line.
Yet down to 13 men, the Sharks excelled in their resolve, and actually took the lead through a superb piece of individual brilliance by Ryan Kankowski. The big No 8 floated up as the Waratahs took a quick lineout and swooped in before Halangahu could receive the pass to run in untouched for the try.
Ruan Pienaar added a penalty to give them a 14-6 lead, but without the necessary personnel they were always going to struggle, with Halangahu finding a gap close to the line to pull one back for the Waratahs.
Tom Carter drove over the line from close range to give the Waratahs a 18-14 lead and Tatafu Polota-Nau showed his strength to power under the posts early in the second half.
With that try, it seemed the Sharks were buried, but they found new resolve and battered their way into the Waratahs half to keep the ball and were rewarded when the gap opened up for Adrian Jacobs to score.
Then on the attack and searching for the win, they had the perfect opportunity which Beale ruined, and had to be content with a bonus point for finishing within seven points for their efforts.
Scorers:
Waratahs - tries: Daniel Halangahu, Tom Carter, Tatafa Polota-Nau. Conversions: Berrick Barnes (2). Penalties: Barnes (2)
Sharks - try: Ryan Kankowski, Adrian Jacobs. Conversion: Andy Goode Penalties: Andy Goode, Ruan Pienaar. Drop Goal: Goode.
Read more on the Super 14 page.
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