Sharks edge Force in Durban

The Sharks managed to hold on for a hard-earned 17-10 win over the Western Force in their Super 14 opener in Durban on Friday, a game that will not be remembered for the quality of the rugby.

The Sharks managed to hold on for a hard-earned 17-10 win over the Western Force in their Super 14 opener in Durban on Friday, a game that will not be remembered for the quality of the rugby.

The Sharks, beaten finalists last year, almost choked again – as they allowed a comfortable 14-3 lead slip away and required a late long-range penalty by the mercurial Francois Steyn to seal the game.

Changing the laws, it seems. will not change men's hearts. However much the legislators want the ball played faster with the ball in hand, the players will have the last say and if they want to play slowly with the ball on the boot, that is the way they will play.

Maybe it was the humidity that sapped energy and made hands and ball wet and slippery. Maybe that is why the players sought the security of the boot. Maybe fatigue set in early and late in the game the Sharks looked about to fade into defeat but then François Steyn kicked a penalty from their own half and they managed to play out time.

The Sharks, it seemed, kicked as a reflex. And yet afterwards Matt Giteau, standing in as captain for Nathan Sharpe, praised the Sharks for adapting better to the conditions and having the better kicking game. So, if you were a Sharks supporter and winning mattered most, you would have left the Absa Stadium contented.

The stadium was fuller than the two earlier Friday matches, in Christchurch and Brisbane, but not yet a full stadium.

There were two early changes. Frédéric Michalak did not play after all. Instead Steyn moved from fullback to flyhalf and Stefan Terblanche came into fullback and was, with Cameron Shepherd of the Force, the main collector of kicked ball.

Sharpe withdrew from the Force side with food poisoning. Tom Hockings took his place at lock.

The Sharks were better than the Force at scrums and line-outs though the Force may have been better at the tackle. The Sharks missed more tackles. In particular they found Drew Mitchell a handful. He certainly turned JP Pietersen inside out. The Force won the penalty count 7-3. In fact in the first half they did not concede a single penalty.

The Force scored first when Jacques Botes was penalised for a silly late bump. Shepherd goaled. 3-0 after 18 minutes. That scoreline was a bit of a surprise as the Sharks had dominated and enjoyed territorial superiority except for a break by David Pocock.

The Sharks were not at all creative with the possession they got, contented to see Ruan Pienaar kicking it high all over the field.

When Mitchell cleared weakly, the Sharks had a line-out about 27 metres from the Force line. They threw in and mauled – a long, sinuous maul that marched down the field until Botes flung himself to ground for a try. Pienaar converted. 7-3 after 27 minutes.

Just before half-time the Force had a promising moment when Giteau kicked wide across the field for Nick Cummins. Henno Mentz, whose hands were brittle, dropped the ball and Cummins was off. The defence held but it was the Force's best attacking moment in the half.

The Force were better in the second half but it was the Sharks who scored. They won a turn-over and Waylon Murray did well. A tackle produced a free kick and Pienaar tapped and went right. The pass came at Brad Barritt at the same time as a defender but the centre flicked it on perfectly to Terblanche who cut in on an angle and scored. Pienaar converted. 14-3 after 52 minutes.

There was more “kick to me and I'll kick to you” until Rory Kockott kicked high. Ryan Kankowski got up to slap the ball a long way back but to Scott Staniforth who grabbed it gratefully and was off like the dog that stole the side of beef, heading straight for the posts. He gave to Giteau who gave to Luke Holmes who plunged over under the posts. Giteau converted. 14-10.

The Force were in sight of victory. But that was as close as they got. They had a moment when Scott Fava intercepted a pass from Botes and set off down the field. As the faster men close in on him he gave to Cummins, but there was rangy lock Albert van den Berg to mow him down 10 metres from the line.

When Fava was unfortunate enough to go off-side at a tackle when one of his men had nudged the ball ahead with a boot, Steyn kicked a penalty goal from two metres inside his own half.

He later tried a couple of drops without ever coming close.

After the hooter went the Sharks were penalised. The Force tapped and ran but in no time they turned the ball over and Kockott kicked the ball out.

Man of the Match: He was not at all spectacular on an evening when nobody was spectacular but he did all things well. He caught and passed well, twice brilliantly, once in the lead-up to Terblanche's try. He charged and tackled bravely. Brad Barritt is our man of the match.

Moment of the Match: The candidates were the three tries, each special in its own right but our choice will be that astonishing back tackle by Albert van den Berg which saved the match for his side.

Villain of the Match: Nobody – unless it was an incessant boot.

The scorers:

For the Sharks:
Tries: Botes, Terblanche
Cons: Pienaar 2
Pen: Steyn

For the Western Force:
Try: Holmes
Con: Giteau
Pen: Shepherd

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Henno Mentz, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Francois Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Kees Lensing, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Albert van den Berg, 20 Jean Deysel, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Adrian Jacobs.

Western Force: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Scott Staniforth, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau (captain), 9 Matt Henjak, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fava, 5 Tom Hockings, 4 David Pusey, 3 AJ Whalley, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Luke Holmes, 17 Troy Takiari, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 James Stannard, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Josh Tatupu.

Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
Television match official: Michael Cupido (South Africa)
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel (South Africa)