Sharks lose another close one

Stephen Hoiles © Getty Images

The words “so near and yet so far” are fast becoming the story of the Sharks’ season, with the Durban team being edged out 24-22 by the Brumbies in their Vodacom Super 14 clash in Canberra on Saturday night.

Blow-by-blow scoring

The Sharks were only just denied against the Waratahs the previous week, with the controversial refereeing of Paul Marks, who was running the touchline in Canberra, robbing them of what they believe should have been a morale-boosting victory.

However they couldn’t blame the referee for their defeat to the Brumbies, for this time it was just the high incidence of elementary errors that prevented the Sharks from getting their noses in front when it mattered.

The Sharks have clearly made an attempt to change their game over the past two weeks, with the emphasis being on returning to a far more basic approach and eliminating the flash. Unfortunately for the Sharks, they just aren’t doing the basics efficiently enough, with too many dropped and poorly directed passes costing them at crucial moments.

The Sharks also had a nightmare at times with their field kicking, with Stefan Terblanche in particular having a bad day of it as at least three of his kicks went directly into touch. All these things combined meant that the visitors weren’t able to keep the Brumbies under pressure long enough.

The Brumbies were forced to defend for most of the last five minutes, but the decision by the Sharks to spread the ball wide when they looked most effective when going up the middle was questionable.

That the Brumbies were in front was thanks to a well struck angled penalty nine minutes from time by flyhalf Matt Giteau, who missed just one kick at goal, the conversion to Benn Alexander’s second try.

Andy Goode was in even better goalkicking form for the Sharks, however, and it was mainly thanks to the former England flyhalf that the Sharks were able to keep reclaiming the lead through a match where the Brumbies frequently threatened to take control without quite doing it.

It was clear from the outset that the Sharks would benefit from a slow game, which it was for the first quarter hour. Stirling Mortlock was presented with an early penalty attempt which he missed in the fourth minute, but otherwise the bulk of the early possession and territory belonged to the Sharks.

Yet those mistakes mentioned earlier were already making themselves apparent, such as when a ball was spilled at the back off a good lineout take in the second minute, followed quickly by Terblanche’s first kicking error.

Goode succeeded with his first kick at goal in the 13th minute to take the Sharks to 3-0, and the Sharks would have started to gain more confidence when Goode was on target with a second kick just three minutes later.

That though appeared to the cue for the Brumbies to find their fluency, and the momentum, both on the scoreboard and in terms of what was happening on the field, swung their way for the next 20 minutes as they succeeded in quickening the game up.

The Sharks defence seemed frequently troubled when the Brumbies switched, and much scrambling was necessary to keep the home team out. It was during a period when the Brumbies were camped on the Sharks line that the Brumbies picked up their first three pointer, with a Giteau penalty, and by the 24th minute he had added another to bring the scores level at 6-all.

Eight minutes later, after a period of sustained pressure, the Brumbies scored the first try of the match after a series of forward drives near the Sharks line. When Giteau’s conversion put the Brumbies 13-6 ahead it did look as though they were going to take the game by the scruff.

However it was a strange match, for the Brumbies’ attempts to quicken the game only worked in spurts. Within two minutes of the Alexander try, the Sharks had worked themselves into the Brumbies 22, from where scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar was able to exploit a defensive error by bursting through an unguarded channel off a recycle.

Goode’s conversion brought the teams level again and then the same player was able to ensure a big psychological blow on the stroke of half-time by landing another tricky penalty that made it 16-13 at the break.

The Brumbies scrum had not had many put-ins during the first part of the game, but they did not waste the attacking opportunity that came their way when one was set up five metres from the Sharks line in the 47th minute.

Alexander has long been known as the man who gives John Smit the most problems when the Bok captain plays tighthead, which he did in this match, and powerful shove led to a series of pick and drives that eventually saw the Wallaby loose-head barrel over.

Goode and Giteau continued to trade penalties for the rest of the match, but it would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the Sharks been presented with a kickable opportunity in those final minutes, for Goode was replaced in the last 10 minutes.

It was the fourth match in five where the Sharks were in with a winning shout in the last minutes only to lose, and it will be a highly frustrated squad that flies across the Tasman Sea for next week’s clash with the Highlanders.

Scorers:
Brumbies - Tries: Ben Alexander (2). Conversion: Matt Giteau. Penalties: Giteau (4).
Sharks - Try: Ruan Pienaar. Conversion: Andy Goode. Penalties: Goode (5).

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