Rugby news from KwaZulu-Natal:
Match Report: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs Ulster:
It was a disappointing Saturday evening for the Hollywoodbets Sharks who went down 34-26 to Ulster in a highly competitive fourth round Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
Ulster retained their unbeaten record in the tournament, one of just three sides with a 100% record as they started the game strongly and managed to find a way to win despite being comprehensively humbled at scrum-time.
A fifth minute try for Ulster came somewhat against the run of early play, but their attack was effective and deadly as they showed their prowess to close out an effort that started in their half.
A penalty 10 minutes later pushed Ulster into a 10-nil lead and then former Blitzbok and Hollywoodbets Sharks’ wing Werner Kok rounded the defence out wide to score Ulster’s second try for a 17-nil lead early in the second quarter.
But Ulster’s retreating scrum that conceded three consecutive penalties against the powerful home team’s set-piece eventually took its toll, a penalty kicked to touch before the forwards, and a few backs, got stuck in and Siya Kolisi broke to score the opening try to cut the lead to 17-5 after 32 minutes.
A second penalty for Ulster saw them extend their lead a further three points just before half-time and that’s how the first half ended, with the visitors leading 20-5 defending against a concerted effort from the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
The scrum dominance continued into the second half and Ulster finally paid the price for their retreating effort, a succession of penalties setting up an attacking scrum in front of the posts with the ball going wide to Makazole Mapimpi whose hard work all game paid off as he rounded the defence to score the second try with Siya Masuku converting to cut the deficit to eight points with half an hour remaining.
Sadly Mapimpi joined Vincent Koch on the sidelines after the pair had both been called for tip-tackles and when a promising attack broke down, Ulster struck with their third try showing how dangerous counter-attack can be, taking a 27-12 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
The scrum dominance from the home side continued and Ulster’s retreating pack continued to haemorrhage penalties, finally paying the price with a penalty try and a yellow card, the seven-pointer cutting the lead to eight points.
Unfortunately, the bonus point try came for the visitors and with that, setting themselves up for an unassailable position with a quarter hour remaining.
Another trademark run from Andre Esterhuizen saw the big centre bruise his way over for the bonus point try in the final 10 minutes, making it an eight point game, but there was to be no further score.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks fought bravely, but Ulster’s defence managed to hold firm in the face of severe pressure, and they held out in the dying moments to deny the Durban side a second bonus point.
The post Match Report: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs Ulster appeared first on The Sharks Durban.
Preview: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs Ulster:
The Hollywoodbets Sharks host Ulster in the first home game of this year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship, looking forward to making Hollywoodbets Kings Park a winning venue.
For head coach John Plumtree, the returning Springboks and playing at home bode well for his side that had a huge challenge on their hands in the first three weeks of the tournament.
“The boys were all really enthusiastic about this game,” he explained of the energy the test match veterans bring to a squad that has strong ambitions.
“It’s been a busy couple of days getting everyone up to speed as well as working on the things we needed to and the boys are looking forward to this clash.”
Having the Springboks back does pose the challenge of how that integration happens, but Plumtree pointed to last year’s successes for context.
“That’s always the challenge, last year we did it really well in the same situation, we beat Glasgow and won pretty well, so the challenge is there for us against a team with two-from-two, they’re confident, a well-organised team, with some new additions that have made them better.
“We know it’s going to be a tough match, but the challenge has been to get ourselves as organised as possible. The coaches have been really good sending out all the information to the boys coming back in to help seed up all the learnings, and that’s been really good.
“We feel like we’re ready to go.”
Cohesion can always be a challenge with big changes, but Plumtree feels confident the transition will be relatively seamless.
“We had no problems last year when they came back in, but they fitted in well and played pretty well. We’re a couple of years down the track with what we’re faced with in this competition with having Springboks out and how we integrate them back into our systems.
“We’re more experienced in that space, but the disappointment was not picking up more points on tour. However we had a number of debutants playing and a pretty average pre-season, some guys only joining the team two weeks before we got on a plane and it’s pretty hard to get organised in that short space of time.
“Despite being on the back foot, I was really proud of them, everyone stuck to the task and tried their best.
“But that’s all in the past and we’re looking forward to two home games and then it’s the November break.”
Returning to Hollywoodbets Kings Park is a huge boost for the players, their comfort levels, their sense of pride and the history of making their home ground a fortress.
“A lot of teams are winning their home games at this stage, there haven’t been a lot of away wins for the other teams,” Plumtree explained.
“We think we can do the job at home, and if we do, we’re right back in it.”
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