[2018 Super Rugby] Round 8: Hurricanes vs. Sharks (06/04/2018)

[TRF_heineken]

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Venue: McLean Park​

Time: 09:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[mania]

hope aumua gets a bit more game time. havent been impressed with him to date

 

[SomeOke]

60 minutes into the game, and I'm wondering where was this Sharks team when they were in Aus, win or lose now, the Sharks have looked the better team against the favourites away from home for 60 minutes.

Losing Beuden was huge but to be fair I wouldn't say West has had a bad game exactly.

 

[unrated]

I have bet on the Sharks to win for every week in this competition this year right until the Blues game. Only then did i take a reality check and asked myself if i should put my fan loyalty on standby and make an objective call to call for a blues win.

Then the Sharks wins that game. Superbru again defeats me. So up comes this Hurricanes game. We lost to the Rebels by a large margin. Surely we cant win this game away from home against the Hurricanes.

With 2 minutes to go we are leading by 9. My prediction was about to be proved wrong once again. Just before full time Hurricanes lands a penalty bringing the score back within 7.

Sharks kick off into the Hurricanes 22. After a few tackles the Hurricanes are pushed back on their own try line with ball in hand. They dont want to kick it away as the time is up . They labour up the field but the Sharks keeps them relatively at bay. 13 phases passes and the Hurricanes are just past their 22 meter line.

Then comes a series of events that will once again break Sharks hearts. A yellow card and four consecutive penalties, two of them kicked into the 5 m line. Sharks defend valiantly but the ref keeps on handing advantage to the hurricanes with almost every action a Sharks player makes.

Hurricanes score, but there is the slightest of hope as they need to land the conversion. an easy one it has to be said. Almost all of the Sharks line up to chase the kicker but it proves futile and the Hurricanes wind 38-37. Hope destroyed once again. The scoreboard and history books will reflect it as a loss.
We almost got revenge on the Hurricanes for that huge thumping they gave us last year. It was not to be.

I commend the effort by the Sharks players, yet the disappointment still lingers.

 

[Icemn]

Dafuq just happened

 

[mania]

Dafuq just happened

ill say.whiskey tango foxtrot

 

[Stade Rochelais]

ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING REFEREEING...I mean seriously!what a joke of a ref we had this game! ROBBED! We were all over that Hurricanes side almost the whole game through and with a lot of help from their buddy blowing the whistle we got robbed! Seriously pathetic!

 

[SomeOke]

To be fair I thought the ref was fine at the end, none of the calls were strictly wrong, he just started policing the offside line extremely harshly.
Tough luck to the Sharks and their supporters they were phenomenal today, very few teams give the Canes any sort of trouble on their home turf.

Bosch looking really good at 15, his kicking from hand has always been stellar but he seems to have gained a bit of confidence with his running game.
Rob Junior was great again and he seems to be playing his way into form at the moment, the entire forward pack performed including Thomas du Toit, and things strangely fell apart from a set piece perspective when Marais came on for Rallepelle.

Esterhuizen and Am hit gaps hard and fast and both looked extremely effective (especially Andre) the only downside is Mvovo who was average to bad (bad IMO) can't understand why he's in the side

A bit of a weakness exposed for the Canes here, they defend well out wide with a great rush defense and some big bodies but seem vulnerable to a more direct approach, could be a symptom of no BB or Perenara for the 2nd.

 

[Icemn]

ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING REFEREEING...I mean seriously!what a joke of a ref we had this game! ROBBED! We were all over that Hurricanes side almost the whole game through and with a lot of help from their buddy blowing the whistle we got robbed! Seriously pathetic!

Ya you are 100% correct some dodgy calls on those sharks tries

 

[Gena_ZA]

Seems Sharks are back so our early tournament optimism not too far off the mark.
Agree on Mvovo, play him at 15 on a rotational basis or nowhere, why has Mapimpi not featured lately?

 

[mania]

Sharks were robbed. Canes played badly and still won.

 

[Stade Rochelais]

Sharks were robbed. Canes played badly and still won.

here is a beautiful truth.

 

[smartcooky]

To be fair I thought the ref was fine at the end, none of the calls were strictly wrong, he just started policing the offside line extremely harshly.

And if he had policed the offside line for the whole game as strictly as he did in that last 10 minutes, the Sharks would not have got that close. They were simply allowed to infringe the ruck offside line with absolute impunity for the first 3/4 of that game... I was hard pressed to find a single ruck when they weren't offside out in the backs; that player in the midfield who rushes up to cut off the 2nd/3rd pass in a backline movement, started ahead of the offside line just about every time.

 

[SomeOke]

And if he had policed the offside line for the whole game as strictly as he did in that last 10 minutes, the Sharks would not have got that close. They were simply allowed to infringe the ruck offside line with absolute impunity for the first 3/4 of that game... I was hard pressed to find a single ruck when they weren't offside out in the backs; that player in the midfield who rushes up to cut off the 2nd/3rd pass in a backline movement, started ahead of the offside line just about every time.

Hey I'm on your side unlike a few of my Saffer brethren - watched the game fairly closely and didn't see any bad calls (maybe one where Brad Shields had a second grab on the ground).

When I say harshly I'm saying strictly to the letter of the law, inevitable some off sides are missed in games and he was just watching it closely at the end.

 

[User1245]

I watched the match and was surprised to see the ref being criticised afterwards. The calls throughout the match seemed fair to me.

Hopefully this is the beginning of the sharks turning things around. BTW I think Mapimpi is being rested. The dude has been playing rugby non stop for over a year with the Cheetahs joining the Pro 14. I was surprised to see him feature when the tournament kicked off.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I honestly don't know why the people are blaming the ref. for 60 minutes the Sharks benefitted from the way he was patrolling the ruck areas, and when the Canes did the same to the Sharks, now it's a travesty?? Doesn't work like that.

What I can say though is that to get about 9 penalties against you after 80 minutes is just stupid. All the Sharks had to do was stay a bit deeper, and push the ball out or force a knock on.