The Hollywoodbets Sharks swayed between beautiful and bizarre as they opened their Investec Champions Cup account with a 39-21 win over Exeter Chiefs.
The win, which looks good on paper, was a lot tougher than expected, as the Sharks were heavily penalised by referee Jeremy Rozier and had three players receive yellow cards late in the second half as they went off the rails, eventually holding out for a good victory.
It would have been enough to have coach John Plumtree tear what little hair he has left out as the home side produced moments of brilliance, but then did some insane things at times and, to be honest, after the third yellow card the referee actually became quite lenient on them.
Makazole Mapimpi easily could have been the fourth yellow in five minutes when he tried to intercept a ball and knocked it on, with the Sharks only penalised.
This happened less than a minute after Eduard Keyter received his marching orders for a deliberate knock on.
Even the most ardent Sharks fan will admit they rode their luck to the limit and beyond and may have used up all their mojo for the rest of the competition.
DISCIPLINE PROBLEM
To concede a massive 19 penalties in the match with three yellow cards points to a massive problem with discipline, and Plumtree will have to do a lot of work if the team aren’t to suffer even more when they go overseas and the 50-50s go against them at every turn.
That’s why it was frustrating at times to watch. The Sharks have a potent team on paper, but for most of the match they looked disjointed and easily disrupted by a Chiefs team that was intent on getting whatever scraps they could out of the game.
For all their brilliance - and here they won the game in a matter of six minutes in the first half where they scored three exceptional tries - they were far from the polished item.
Their lineouts were poor, they struggled at the breakdown and generally were more bluster than precision.
It wouldn’t be unkind to say the depth of talent they had was what pulled them through with man-of-the-match Siya Kolisi scoring two tries and having an incredible game.
Kolisi’s rugby has flourished since he moved to No 8 and the Bok captain is certainly enjoying his time back in Durban.
A special message from the Investec player of the match 🤳#InvestecChampionsCup #SHAvEXE pic.twitter.com/FhgDdXKJ8g
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) December 7, 2024
Equally impressive was reserve forward Phepsi Buthelezi, who scored a great individual try and was everywhere on the park, putting in one of his best performances in a Sharks jersey.
Ethan Hooker, Keyter, Makazole Mapimpi and Jordan Hendrikse in particular caught the eye and can be proud of their games.
WILLIAMS THE KEY MAN FOR SHARKS
The star in the Sharks backline, however, remains Grant Williams.
In all three tries that changed the tide of the game, he injected himself at precisely the right time, providing the burst of speed to outstrip the initial defence in the first one and providing key passes at the right time in the other two, and it is hard to underestimate his value to the team and the type of form he has at the moment.
The Chiefs can be proud of their performance, as they seemed outgunned, but forced mistakes and looked more than a handful on their trip to South Africa.
Had their game management in the last 20 been a bit better they may have come close to winning the game, as some key decisions they took were inexplicable against a 12 man team.
By contrast the Sharks' bravery in that time must not be underestimated, and Plumtree will likely be quick to point out they shouldn’t be in that situation in the first place.
The Chiefs though, showed their intent by exploiting the Sharks' slow start and watching as hooker Dan Frost went over for the first of his two tries.
THREE-TRY BURST
But in the 20th minute, after struggling up to that point, the Sharks burst into life.
First it came from a turnover close to their own line where Eben Etzebeth sent the ball wide to Mapimpi to take it up.
Mapimpi passed it inside to Ox Nche, who in turn sent Williams onward, with Hooker the next recipient.
When Buthelezi got the ball, he had a lot to do, but beat one tackle, outstripped another and had a turn of pace to beat the rest of the defence to finish off a great try.
Suddenly there was life in the Sharks team and passes started to stick.
Aphelele Fassi took a quick throw in, sidestepped the advancing defender and sent Williams darting upfield with incredible speed, before returning to take Williams’s pass and send Mapimpi in at the corner.
As a counter attack, this was top class.
Williams finished off the third try in six minutes a short while later to add his name to the scoresheet and in that time the Sharks had gone from 0-7 down to 19-7 up.
Kolisi added the fourth try a few minutes before the break as Jordan Hendrikse’s excellent skip pass put him into space in the tramlines to run in untouched.
Some of the good work was undone though as Frost scored on halftime to give Exeter hope, as a ball slapped back from a lineout by the Sharks put Williams in a terrible position, losing the ball on his own line and Frost pouncing in the chaos.
The second half is one the Sharks won’t want to remember, as Exeter had most of the ball, and the momentum.
England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso made the deficit a little less by taking a cross kick to dot down early on.
Kolisi got his second when a ball was kicked through and the bounce favoured the Sharks to put him over without much opposition, but then things went wrong for the Sharks.
YELLOW-CARD MADNESS
After a string of penalties, some surprisingly at the scrum, the Sharks received their warning from Rozier, who followed it up with a yellow for Etzebeth when he played the Chiefs lineout jumper in the air.
Emile van Heerden followed for collapsing the maul from the next lineout and then Keyter’s moment of madness saw the third yellow flashed in five minutes, with Mapimpi a minute later escaping with a very lucky call.
The Sharks held out in the end, but they will know their second-half madness could be costly in the future, and a less forgiving referee may punish them more.
SCORERS
Hollywoodbets Sharks - tries: Siya Kolisi (2), Phepsi Buthelezi, Grant Williams, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (4). Penalties: Hendrikse (2).
Exeter Chiefs - tries: Dan Frost (2), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Conversions: Josh Hodge (3)
