It was a tough day at the office as the Hollywoodbets Sharks suffered a 55-21 Carling Currie Cup defeat to the log leading Suzuki Griquas in Kimberley on Friday evening.
It was all Suzuki Griquas in the opening 10 minutes as they controlled territory and possession, but found themselves up against brave defence, twice being held up over the tryline, before making it third time lucky with a rolling maul that just grew in confidence and momentum to drive the ball over the line for the opening seven-pointer of the game.
A yellow card for offside in preventing a try saw the Hollywoodbets Sharks reduced to 14 men as the home side turned defence into attack from a loose ball in their 22m area, and when the TMO was asked for input on the action, the decision was a penalty try in the 14th minute.
It didn’t take the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV long to respond, and respond they did, in the perfect manner as they pressured the home side from the kick-off, earned an attacking lineout, kicked for touch after accruing a penalty and from the set-piece, Tino Mavesere went over, with Luan Giliomee converting.
The kick-off didn’t work out for the Durban side and from a knock-on, scrum penalty and lineout, the home side went over for their third try exploiting their numbers advantage out wide for a 19-7 lead in the 22nd minute.
The tit-for-tat nature of the game continued as Tim Swiel, back on the field, ghosted through the defence after a sustained five-minute pressure period and numerous penalties conceded by the home team, converting his own score to cut the deficit to five points again with 12 minutes of the half remaining.
With three minutes left, Johan Momsen, with an industrious effort all game, managed to work his way over the line for his team’s third try, with Swiel converting to push his team into a 21-19 lead.
But Suzuki Griquas retook the lead with a break-out try right before the half-time whistle as they went back into the lead, 26-21 ahead as the teams headed for the changerooms.
The home side struck first blood in the second period, again turning defence into attack, with a strong maul handing them enough advantage to score, taking a 10-point lead after six minutes and 10 minutes later, they used their rolling maul to great effect to push the lead to 17 points with a converted try
Three minutes later they delivered a carbon copy try to assert their dominance on the scoreboard, ahead 43-21 with the final 10 minutes left to play.
Losing Mavesere to a yellow card in the closing moments was a blow after the ever-present flank had been a thorn in the Suzuki Griquas’ side all game, but the home side’s maul continued to plague the visitors as they scored their fourth in a row with five minutes left to play.
Not to be outdone, the backs put together a strong attack to close out the game with a seven-pointer that pushed them into a 55-21 lead that closed out the game.
