Both teams were left to rue missed opportunities to clinch the log points for the win as the Dragons and Hollywoodbets Sharks fought out a 17-all draw in inclement conditions in their second round Vodacom URC clash at Rodney Parade in Newport on Friday night.
For the Dragons, when they were locked together level on points in the dying minutes and they were pressing for the winning score, the question is surely how they didn’t get the ball to their ace flyhalf Tinus de Beer to attempt a drop goal. He was standing there calling for the ball in the middle of the field and had dropped back into the pocket but for some reason, although the three pointer would have been enough to break a long win drought for the Welsh team, they pressed on in quest for a try.
In the end the mistake was made when they tried to spread the ball wide and the ball went forward inches from the Sharks’ line. However, while that was a reprieve for them, from the Sharks’ viewpoint they must have left the ground wondering how they were ever in the position to be trying to prevent their opponents from winning given their massive superiority in the set scrums throughout the ame and in the territory battle for much of the second half.
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WERE EFFECTIVE WHEN THEY KEPT BALL UNDER A BLANKET
They might also wonder how they conceded the two tries, which both came out of the blue, that kept the Dragons in the game in the first half and kept the home team’s confidence up when the Sharks had shown early on just how effective they could be if they did what should have been done in those conditions, which was keep the ball under a forward blanket.
The conditions looked like as inclement as you could get for much of the game, with the rain driving sideways in the strong wind, and it accounted for the messiness of a match that was predictably error-ridden.
The Sharks had a chance to win it themselves about five minutes from time but instead of asking Jean Smith, the young flyhalf, to line up the kick from an angled position, they kicked for the corner. It was there that they made the mistake that gave the Dragons their sniff at victory, with Jurenzo Julius being penalised on the Dragons line.
The Sharks should actually really have put the game to bed in the 62nd minute when they were pressing for a try when 17-14 up that would have put them more than a score ahead, which in those conditions would have been game, set and match, but they lacked the patience and the Dragons won themselves what at that stage was a rare defensive penalty.
MASSIVE SCRUM PENALTY COUNT IN FAVOUR OF SHARKS
Indeed, a penalty count of 11-3 in favour of the Sharks at one stage itself tells a story of missed opportunities, and at one stage the penalty count at scrums was 6-1. It was when the Dragons infringed again that Chris Coleman was yellow carded with eight minutes to go, so the Dragons’ late press for victory came when they had just 14 men on the field.
The Sharks started as if they had a train to catch and were effective with their driving game. The match was eight minutes old when Springbok lock Marvin Orie drove over the line for the first try and a 5-0 lead that was stretched to 7-0 with Smith’s conversion. Only for the Sharks to give away that advantage with the incredibly lax defence that allowed the Dragons’ Wales international No 8 Aaron Wainwright to run through to score his team’s first try to level the scores at 7-all. The wind made it a difficult night for the kickers but Smith was on target with a penalty in the 19th minute that reclaimed the Sharks lead at 10-7, only for Angus O’Brien to respond with a try six minutes later that gave the Dragons a 14-10 lead as the Sharks defenders just gave their opponents too much space and momentum.
It was poor from the Sharks, but they got their Mojo back at forward before halftime to get over through their skipper Vincent Tshituka. The conversion made it 17-14 at the break and that was how it stayed until on one of the rare visits by the Dragons into the Sharks’ half, with the hosts playing into the wind, De Beer was presented with the penalty attempt that he curled through the posts from close range.
It was not the result the Sharks would have wanted as they head to Dublin next week to face Leinster in their final tour game and they will need some of their top Springboks back if they are to stand any chance of being competitive. For the Dragons it was a case of so near and yet so far as their long run of defeats was extended to 19 matches.
Strong>Scores
Dragons 17 - Tries: Aaron Wainwright and Angus O’Brien; Conversions: Tinus de Beer 2; Penalty: Tinus de Beer.
Hollywoodbets Sharks 17 - Tries: Marvin Orie and Vincent Tshituka; Conversions: Jean Smith 2; Penalty: Jean Smith.
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