The Sharks are back home again this weekend, and I am sure that’s a welcome relief after all their travelling. Three continents and three vastly different time zones in three weeks is a bit much for anyone. Nonetheless, they did the necessary business in Argentina and beat the Jaguares, keeping their playoff hopes alive and well.

Admittedly, it was not a pretty win. We knew it was going to be a tough game. The Jaguares are brutal, and let me just say it plainly, not the most sportsmanlike team you’ll ever encounter. Their questionable behaviour in the game has resulted in two bans for the men from Argentina, one for captain Agustin Creevy for his dangerous tackle on Jean Deysel (a one week ban) and the other for number 8, Leonardo Senatore, for biting Keegan Daniel (a 10 week ban). Jean Deysel is incredibly lucky not to have a serious injury after the way he landed on his neck and the sad thing is that the Jaguares have the skill to be a great team, so I really don’t know why they resort to these kind of tactics. The crowd is unbelievably hostile in Buenos Aires too, so it really can’t be a pleasant experience to play there as the opposition. Which brings me to another bone of contention regarding last weekend’s game. Neither of those incidents resulted in any action from referee, Marius van der Westhuizen. Indeed, his performance was woeful, including allowing a try by the Jaguares that even the TMO said was definitely not a try. I can only wonder, was he scared of the crowd? I actually just don’t understand what happened, and I’m definitely not one to blame the ref when things don’t go our way. Anyway, we came away from the game with a win and our defence once again held up well against a Jaguares team that were like battering rams in the second half. Kudos to Lambie for maintaining his composure throughout the game, and particularly for being able to kick the winning penalty in the final minute.

Onwards and upwards. This week we face the Kings on our home turf. They’re certainly the whipping boys of Super Rugby, and although they managed to beat the Sunwolves (arguably the other contenders for poorest team in the tournament), they have lost every other match, mostly in resounding fashion. The Sharks’ opening game of the season was against the Kings in PE, and they beat them by 35 points. One could argue that the Kings have improved since then, and if taken too lightly could shock the home team, but really, I just don’t see it happening. It may not be another 35 point margin after all the travelling the Sharks have been doing, but the men from Durban have improved dramatically since that opening round too, and I would be very surprised if the Kings even come close.

The Sharks side to face the Southern Kings on Saturday is:

15. Willie le Roux, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Pat Lambie (Captain), 9. Michael Claassens, 8. Daniel du Preez, 7. Jean-Luc du Preez, 6. Keegan Daniel, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Etienne Oosthuizen, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Dale Chadwick

Replacements:

16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Juan Schoeman, 18. Thomas du Toit, 19. Giant Mtyanda, 20. Tera Mtembu, 21. Stefan Ungerer, 22. Garth April, 23. Odwa Ngungane

My SuperBru picks for round 13 are (all times shown are SA time):

Crusaders v Waratahs (20 May 09:35) Crusaders by 8

Reds v Sunwolves (21 May 07:05) Reds by 5

Chiefs v Rebels (21 May 09:35) Chiefs by 16

Force v Blues (21 May 11:45) Blues by 3

Lions v Jaguares (21 May 15:00) Lions by 15

Sharks v Kings (21 May 17:10) Sharks by 25

Bulls v Stormers (21 May 19:20) Stormers by 3

Well now. What a game of rugby we had last weekend! The Sharks were at the finest they’ve been all season against the Hurricanes, when so many people had tipped them to lose. My only regret is that I chose such a narrow margin when I predicted the Sharks’ win on SuperBru – really, I am not very good at this prediction malarkey. Continue reading

The Sharks are back at home this weekend after a somewhat mixed tour to New Zealand. Losing to the Blues was a disappointment but the team bounced back with a win against the Highlanders and almost looked like they would pull off a second win on tour against the best team in the current competition. Sadly that wasn’t to be and they went down by a mere two points against the Chiefs…a pity but still a good reflection of the progress the team has made. Those Chiefs were seriously rattled by the Sharks for at least the first half and a fair bit of the second half too. The Sharks completely threw them off their game plan and played fantastic rugby. It fell apart a bit in the final quarter, but it was a great game and what an absolutely fabulous debut Super Rugby try from Garth April. Definitely one to watch! Continue reading

I am a much happier little Sharks fan after our win against the Highlanders, that’s for sure. Granted, I nearly had a few heart attacks during the game, and it’s quite fortunate that I share an office space with fellow rugby fans who aren’t affronted by me dropping a few F bombs when things get heated – those last few minutes when it looked like the Highlanders would score and take the lead nearly sent me over the edge. Am I proud of the victory dance I did in front of the Blue Bulls supporter who was taunting me by supporting the opposition? Well, yes actually, I am. Pfft. Take that! Continue reading

Let’s face it. After a great start to the year, things are not really panning out the way we might have hoped for the Sharks. Last weekend hurt my feelings quite a bit – I was pretty certain we had it in the bag. The team was playing well, there were some great attacking moments, we were consistently ahead…and then somehow we let it all get away from us in the final quarter. Continue reading

Well, needless to say I ate a very large helping of humble pie after last week’s game. Not my favourite dish, that’s for sure. Things all seemed to fall apart against the Lions after what actually seemed like a really promising start. Within the first minute, the Sharks were on the Lions’ try line, looking formidable to say the least. Continue reading

The Sharks had a bye last weekend, so at least I’ve had an extra week to come to terms with their loss to the Crusaders – their first defeat of the season. It was an incredibly frustrating game to watch, I have to be honest. I love those boys but when they start kicking the ball straight into the eager arms of a team that’s known for its prowess with ball in hand, over and over and over, I want to scream! On the plus side, their defence was fantastic yet again, and they held a very good Crusaders side at bay almost to the very end. Mention must also go to Lwazi Mvovo’s two brilliant intercept tries. There’s a reason he’s one of my favourite favourites – when he gets even the tiniest bit of space to unleash his speed, there’s really no stopping him. Definitely the highlight of the game. Continue reading

Last Friday night I managed to sneak out of my work function just in time to catch the last few moments of the Sharks vs Bulls game on the radio (hurrah for Radio 2000 and their fab rugby commentary, although anyone who has ever listened to a game instead of watching it will tell you it’s WAY more stressful!) – a good thing, I thought, until I nearly had a heart attack and drove off the road. Continue reading

It pleases me to no end to be able to say that the Sharks remain unbeaten. Last week’s game was another nail-biter, and a contentious one at that. There’s a lot of gnashing of Stormers fans’ teeth over that penalty try that was awarded after Siya Kolisi’s foot connected with the ball as Cobus Reinach was dotting down for the try. Now, I’m no Stormers fan but I do like Kolisi so I would be surprised if it was a truly cynical move, but according to the rulebook that’s irrelevant so I don’t think Marius Jonker made the wrong decision in awarding the penalty try. I also think the Sharks had more momentum and finesse in that second half and so I suspect we would have won it anyway, one way or another. Continue reading