Sharks v Munster: Five takeaways as ‘bulldozing’ hosts ‘take the Michael’ at the scrum and keep ‘out-of-sorts’ visitors scoreless
Makazole Mapimpi was a two-try scorer for the Sharks on a day that Munster's Michael Milne, inset, will want to forget
Following a commanding seven-try, 45-0 victory for the Sharks over Munster, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship clash at Kings Park on Saturday.
Top line
Recent URC outings hadn’t been kind to the Sharks as they were rendered toothless in South African derbies against the Lions and the Bulls after a double win over the Stormers.
However, the three-week break leading into this weekend’s resumption proved a tonic as they comfortably dismantled a thoroughly disappointing Munster, who looked totally out of sorts having been a day late arriving in the southern hemisphere following a cancelled flight.
Phepsi Buthelezi needed just seven minutes to be mauled over for the opening converted try after a scrum penalty was kicked into the corner.
Then, with an advantage awarded at a 28th-minute maul after another penalty booted deep into the stands, the Durban side worked the ball through the hands to the opposite corner and the debut-making full-back Luan Giliomee scored a try that went unconverted.
Munster couldn’t begrudge the Sharks their 12-0 lead. Gravely suffering from penalty issues at the scrum and in handling the greasy ball, the Irish province finished the half without scoring despite threatening on a couple of occasions.
They were left to rue spills in the 22 from Gavin Coombes in the carry and Tom Ahern at the lineout and with this sort of inaccuracy continuing into the second half, Munster came undone again in the 51st minute.
A super Giliomee 50/22 kick invited the Sharks into the danger zone and no sooner did a penalty advantage materialise near the posts was loosehead Phatu Ganyane powering in between Mike Haley and Ethan Coughlan to score the try that was converted for 19-0.
Six more minutes were all that was needed for the bonus try to materialise. Attacking off scrum ball near halfway, a kick from Yaw Penxe down the far touch line off a Giliomee pass left the Munster defence scrambling. Jordan Hendrikse won the scrap on the floor and Emile van Heerden powered over from the Grant Williams pop to round off a superbly executed team try.
With more than 20 minutes still left to play, Munster were in damage limitation mode and they somehow managed to cling on until three minutes from time when Le Roux Malan won an aerial contest to score another converted try.
The torture didn’t end there as Munster then conceded two more to Makazole Mapimpi. Poor handling allowed the winger to hack on and score his first, and his second then came off a restart catch where he galloped all the way from his own 10-metre line for another try.
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Bad blood
It was last May when relations between these two sides boiled over in ridiculous circumstances. Their Kings Park quarter-final had gone all the way to a penalty shootout when the s***housery of Jaden Hendrikse, who claimed an injury in the vicinity of the kick-preparing Jack Crowley, created bad blood.
With Munster going on to be eliminated, let’s just say the post-match exchanges were unpleasant and it was always going to be a curiosity as to whether there would be a bristly hangover carried into this rematch 10 months later. There wasn’t.
There were afters at the 13th-minute scrum where Hanro Jacobs had wrangled a penalty advantage from Michael Milne, but that exchange was quickly broken up.
With Munster overplaying their hand way too often when in possession, going on to never even get on the scoreboard, there was no further flash of temper in a very one-sided spectacle.
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Taking the Michael
With 36 penalties awarded to the Sharks at the scrum so far in the URC, making them the most potent front row in the tournament, it was inevitable that the set-piece would have a huge influence on this match.
There were four scrum penalties given to the hosts during the opening half, with Milne, a Triple Crown-winning sub last weekend with Ireland, infringing on four, 13 and 22 minutes before Michael Ala’alatoa was pinged four minutes before the interval. The first infringement was especially costly, as it allowed the South Africans to kick to the corner and maul for the opening try.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic as referee Sam Grove-White did award two free-kicks to Munster during the opening half, and this going-early behaviour then became a penalty on 44 minutes when Ganyane jumped the gun.
However, Ala’alatoa had again been found out at the scrum before that, and the disparity in the propping resources, starting with two Michaels and then with the travelling subs, was laid bare on 63 minutes when the Sharks subbed off Jacobs and Ganyane and replaced them with Vincent Koch and Ox Nché.
They immediately shunted Munster backwards at their first scrum involvement, and a penalty was won at the next scrum on 70 minutes with Nché bulldozing his way forward with brute force. It will have the Bulls licking their lips for their set-piece duel next weekend against Munster.
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Scoreless Munster
It’s getting tricky for Munster now. Having started the season at 100 miles an hour, winning their opening four matches and ambushing champions Leinster at Croke Park, the bounce they wanted under new coach Clayton McMillan had very much materialised.
However, they have now lost five of their next nine in the URC and have also been eliminated from the Investec Champions Cup, creating the situation where they are in a real battle to make the play-offs.
Connacht’s surprise win on Friday night at Ulster applied pressure on the standings, as did the wins for the Bulls and the Lions. However, there was no response in Durban from Munster. Whereas last year they fought tooth and nail in the quarter-finals, that grit was totally absent this time round.
Aside from their wounded scrum going backwards, they had damaging issues at the lineout, while the level of their handling errors also played a massive part in keeping them scoreless and heaping the pressure on their misfiring campaign.
Their leading Ireland Six Nations players are expected to join them in Cape Town for preparations ahead of next Saturday’s match at altitude versus the Bulls, and their arrival can’t come quick enough as an attitude change is needed or they will end up under the pump and losing at Loftus.
Shark bite
Recent derby losses hurt the Sharks, but the completeness of this confident win over Munster now has them primed for a late challenge to make the URC play-offs.
With the ample resources at their disposal, they should never be in the bottom half of the table, but it needed their troubled start to the campaign for them to realise that John Plumtree isn’t the coach with the nuances to bring the best out of their star-studded squad.
Instead, his removal in December and the promotion from within of JP Pietersen have altered the culture of the team and while they are still vulnerable to inconsistent performances, when they are on their game they have the ability to make the rest of the league sit up and take notice.
So optimistic is their outlook now that they made light of the pre-game withdrawals Springbok pair Ethan Hooker and Siya Kolisi and just got on with business. Their set-up is designed for anyone to thrive – look at how debut-making full-back Giliomee slotted so well.
But it’s not just the rookies making hay; even the likes of a veteran World Cup winner such as Mapimpi have found a new spring in their step. His two-try blast near the finish was impeccable.