Excellent form: Pat Lambie
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The Sharks got their Super Rugby campaign off to a winning start on Saturday with a 29-22 victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
The Sharks led 16-5 at the interval and 26-5 early in the second half but two tries from the Cheetahs in the final quarter set up a nail biting finish.
The Sharks ruled in the first hour thanks to their dominant pack and the outstanding form of fly-half Pat Lambie, but the hosts came flying back in the last 20 minutes and threatened to cause an upset as the Sharks struggled to contain their free-running style.
Lambie succeeded with seven out of seven kicks and completely overshadowed his Cheetahs counterpart Johan Goosen. The latter returned after an absence of four months due to injury, but his first game this season was all but spectacular.
Goosen failed with kicks at goal and his positional play was also left wanting.
The visitors started at a frantic pace and controlled most of the possession in the first couple of minutes.
The visitors were bullying the Cheetahs off the ball at the breakdown area, but it was the hosts who drew first blood via flanker Philip van der Walt. The Cheetahs put together a rolling maul from a line-out and Van der Walt burst over with his team-mates on his back.
The Sharks continued to put the Cheetahs defence to the test and got some useful possession from the scrums, but initial attacks were botched by bad decision making and forward passes.
The Durban finally got on the board when Lambie kicked a penalty after Cheetahs flanker Frans Viljoen infringed at the ruck.
The fly-half kicked another couple of penalties shortly after, with the Cheetahs penalised for hands in the ruck on their own goalline.
Sharks winger Lwazi Mvovo scored his side's first try in the 30th minute when he pounced on a ball tapped by Ryan Kankowski from the visitors' line-out and ran through to touch down under the uprights. Lambie converted to give the visitors a 16-5 half-time lead.
Goosen tried to settle things down with a penalty in the second period, but he pulled the attempt to the left.
The Sharks looked better on the attack and flanker Marcell Coetzee scored a try from a rolling maul in the 46th minute, which Lambie converted.
Lambie kicked another penalty shortly after to give the Sharks a comfortable cushion.
The Cheetahs continued to fight and put together some attacking phases of play, with flanker Lappies Labuschagne scoring in the corner. Goosen converted to leave the Cheetahs 14 points adrift.
Centre Johann Sadie reduced the deficit to just seven points when he broke the Sharks defence and dove over in the corner, with Goosen again converting.
The Cheetahs' tails were up and they put the Sharks under immense pressure, and Goosen kicked a penalty in the 67th minute to bring his side within four points.
Lambie, however, answered in kind to regain a seven-point advantage and secure the win, leaving the Cheetahs to settle for a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Cheetahs:
Tries: van der Walt, Labuschagne, Sadie
Cons: Goosen 2
Pens: Goosen
For Sharks:
Tries: Mvovo, Coetzee
Cons: Lambie 2
Pens: Lambie 5
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Elgar Watts, 22 Ryno Benjamin.
The Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Francois Steyn (c), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Odwa Ndungane.
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Tiaan Jonker (South Africa)
Television match official: Gerrie Coetzee (South Africa)
Comments
kaitangsou says...
Cheetahs already robbed...kaplan needs to be investigated...he is crooked...
Posted 16:56 24th February 2013
daibok says...
Never let the Cheetahs mix it up. It nearly cost the Sharks and turned the game into a nail biter at the end.
I was surprised at the scrum dominance of the Sharks over a highly rated Cheetahs front row.
it's obvious that Goosen needs some game time. It's going to be fascinating between him and Lambie for the Boks.
Both fullbacks are much under- appreciated. I would put them ahead of Kirchner.
And finally, all being well, Reinach is the next Bok 9.
Posted 14:47 24th February 2013
ben7 says...
Great game! So happy to see Pretorius back, same with Frans Steyn
Posted 21:12 23rd February 2013