Durban – The Sharks’ smash-and-grab raid on the town of Treviso was a hard-fought success and they return home to Durban on Monday with a full house of United Rugby Championship points and the 29-7 win propels them into the top half of the overall rankings.
This was a one-off venture into the northern hemisphere, unlike the four-match marathon of November so the Sharks could empty the tank and at 21-0 at halftime, a rout seemed on the cards but they lost their way in the second half and had to dig deep to secure the bonus point try with just a minute remaining
The Sharks went into the match with the expectation that they would win given that 12 first-choice Benetton players were in Dublin preparing to play for Italy against Ireland on Sunday while the Sharks boasted a host of Cup-winning Springboks, and they lived up to their billing to a large extent.
From the first whistle, you had the feeling that the Italians — not to mention their liberal sprinkling of South Africans — were hanging on and each time the Sharks got near the home 22, the tryline was either breeched or threatened.
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 26, 2022
For instance, the Sharks’ first try was well constructed. From a solid set scrum in the seventh minute, Phepsi Buthelezi surged to the line and then a series of drives by the pack eventually saw big Ruben van Heerden spin through two tackles to score.
All eyes were on Curwin Bosch, who had been re-introduced into the starting lineup from the wilderness and tasked with both kicking goals and using his prodigious boot to ensure the Sharks played in favourable positions on the field.
He mostly got that spot on and one perfectly timed up-and-under was masterfully retrieved by wing Sbu Nkosi and from the resulting momentum, Aphelele Fassi flew down the touchline and scored.
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Aphelele Fassi putting in a devastating sidestep to sit down the Benetton fullback!
The Sharks grab a big 29-7 Vodacom #URC win in Italy. pic.twitter.com/Q02rn10DOM
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 26, 2022
If there is a criticism of Bosch in this game, he took the ball too deep and also standing still, and that gave his centres no attacking momentum and the Benetton defence plenty of time to read the play and defend accordingly.
On the stroke of halftime, a Benetton back was yellow-carded and the kick to the corner produced the most timeous of scores for the hard-working Buthelezi, plus the home side would play the first ten minutes of the second half with 14 men.
But the Sharks were messy after the break and too lateral in their attacks, and after Ox Nche had a try disallowed when he lost control as he grounded the ball, Benetton suddenly burst into life and there was a distinct momentum shift.
And their tails were right up in the Treviso air when Lukhanyo Am was sin-binned and they immediately scored via that well-known Italian lock Carl Wegner.
At 21-7 with a quarter of the match remaining, the door was opened a tad for the home team. It was closed again with eight minutes to go when Bosch kicked a crucial penalty, and it was only in the 79th minute that Sbu Nkosi scored the vital fourth try.
Point scorers:
Sharks 29 (21) – Tries: Ruben van Heerden, Aphelele Fassi, Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty: Bosch.
Benetton 7 (0) – Tries: Carl Wegner. Conversions: Tomas Albornoz.
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