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Bismarck du Plessis - Source: Photosport -
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The Sharks finally broke their duck with a 30-16 Super 14
rugby win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday night.
It marked the first success in six matches for the South Africans
this season and came at the expense of a Highlanders team now
boasting a similarly mediocre one-win, five-loss record.
The result was only confirmed two minutes from fulltime when Sharks
centre Adrian Jacobs grabbed an intercept try to make the match
safe for his side.
That came barely 90 seconds after Highlanders replacement wing
Fetu'u Vainikolo was denied a try by the television official
following a sweet backline move featuring the other wing Ben
Smith.
Repeated replays were required before Vainikolo was ruled to have
grounded the ball just short of the line and the Sharks made the
most of the reprieve.
The Sharks had led 23-9 at one stage following a fine try to wing
Stefan Terblanche before the Highlanders finally found the tryline
themselves thanks the Smith's strength in the 68th minute when
the
home side attacked down the short side from a scrum.
The Sharks had led 10-6 at halftime after defending stoutly and
living off scraps of possession.
The Highlanders won a flood of ball and dominated territory but had
only two Dagg penalties to show for their exertions as their
play was riddled by handling errors.
They lacked the continuity required to finish off promising moves
and were galled to concede a try on the only occasion the South
Africans visited their 22 in the opening 40 minutes.
That came in the 23rd minute when hooker Bismarck du Plessis
crossed after sharp leadup work by Keegan Daniel and Ruan Pienaar,
the latter of whom ended the match with 15 points from his
goalkicking.
Aside from that the Sharks were deployed very much on a defensive
brief for the duration of the first half, a role they stuck to with
such rigidity that the Highlanders could not manage even a single
try despite spending plenty of time hot on attack.
Sharks 30 (Bismarck du Plessis, Stefan Terblanche, Adrian
Jacobs tries; Ruan Pienaar 3 pen, 3 con)
Highlanders 16 (Ben Smith try; Israel Dagg 3 pen,
con).
Halftime: 10-6.
