The Hollywoodbets Sharks opened their 2025/26 Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a disappointing 35-19 loss to the Glasgow Warriors on Friday evening.
The game hung in the balance for much of the game, before two late tries to the hosts took the game away from the determined and ambitious Hollywoodbets Sharks who trailed by just two points as the game headed for the final 10 minutes.
It was an enterprising start for the visitors, showing intent on attack and using the foreign 5g artificial pitch to good effect, delivering an action-packed performance.
Their intensity was rewarded after debutant Edwill van der Merwe’s try was referred to the TMO for confirmation of grounding in the ninth minute of the game with the forwards having dominated the close-contact build-up in the preceding moments.
Five minutes later, Glasgow struck back, taking the ball across the field before rounding the final line of defence out wide to level matters, with the successful conversion then taking them into a 7-5 lead.
A mounting penalty count against the Hollywoodbets Sharks saw them conceding territory and pressure and nearly conceded a second try early into the second quarter, but for a TMO call on an infringement during Glasgow’s lineout and the home side saw their try denied.
The forwards nearly came good a few minutes later, the rolling maul off an attacking lineout getting them over the line, but bravery on defence managed to disrupt the ball and save the try.
The home side finally made their growing confidence count as they managed to close out a sustained attack in the 32nd minute with the ball going through the forwards and backs interchangeably in the lead-up to a second converted try for a 14-5 lead.
The artificial pitch might be conducive to fleet-footed rugby, but for teams not used to the way the ball bounces or how it impacts at scrum time, it does pose its challenges, which the Hollywoodbets Sharks found to their frustration.
But when their studs found purchase, two dominant scrums and the penalties that came from that, showed that they were becoming accustomed to the foreign surface, and indeed, thriving.
And thrive they did, captain Vincent Tshituka finishing off a patient, sustained and accurate power game attack from the forwards, a series of pick-and-drive efforts eventually delivering the goods.
Jaden Hendrikse, playing at 10, converted and the referee blew for half-time with the home side leading 14-12 at the break.
Pressure in the early stages of the second half kept the Hollywoodbets Sharks stuck in their half, battling to counter and it was the home side who scored next, a penalty kicked to touch and a successful lineout drive over the line, with the conversion pushing them into a 21-12 lead in the 50th minute.
As the game hit the final quarter, the stop-start nature disrupted the flow – for both sides, but when precision returned, it was the Hollywoodbets Sharks who struck gold and brought themselves right back into the game with their third try, a cross-kick from Lukhanyo Am finding the increasingly dominant van der Merwe out wide and with two defenders on him, managed to elude their efforts and the touchline before offloading to Am who powered his way over, with Hendrikse’s conversion making it a two point game with 12 minutes remaining.
But it took two minutes for Glasgow to show their intent with a break through the middle that led to their fourth try, stretching their lead to 28-19 with the final 10 minutes to play.
After conceding numerous penalties and a yellow card in the closing minutes of the game, a penalty try was awarded to the home side to make no question about the result.
Ultimately, for a first game of the campaign in a disrupted, player decimated scenario, there was always going to be an element of rustiness to their play, and while there can be no faulting the effort and intent, the team will acknowledge the need to work on their discipline, having conceded 15 penalties to Glasgow’s eight.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks will now shift their focus to their week two assignment, against the Dragons who went down 42-21 to Ulster in their opening match.