The Sharks came for a brawl, and the Stormers fell for it. And then JP Pietersen landed the knockout blow to put Joe Pietersen over and win the battle on points.
Robbie Fleck’s team had the greater ammunition in front of 31 372 spectators at Newlands on Saturday night, but were dragged down to the Sharks’ level in a mistake-ridden display that would’ve had the Stormers coach fuming.
To add insult to injury, they had to deal with a highly questionable decision by TMO Marius Jonker, which saw the Sharks level the scores at 10-10 soon after halftime, but even more importantly, Siya Kolisi was yellow-carded for his role in it.
Cobus Reinach had sniped past the Stormers defence and reached out to score, but Kolisi’s foot landed just in time, with Reinach placing the ball on Kolisi’s foot and the ball squirted away.
But New Zealand referee Mike Fraser referred the incident to TMO Jonker, who felt that Kolisi had intentionally kicked the ball out of Reinach’s hands, and recommended a penalty try to the Sharks, with Kolisi also being sent off for 10 minutes.
Fleck – with great disappointment etched on his face afterwards – didn’t want to say whether he thought it was a kick or not, but expressed his feelings without actually saying it. “Obviously a call was made. If Siya intentionally kicked it, then it’s a penalty try. If it’s just part of the tackle, then it’s not. Simple as that,” the former Springbok centre said.
“He’s (Kolisi) upset. He obviously felt he didn’t do it. I’ll say it again – if he’s done it intentionally, it’s a penalty try. But if it’s not, if it’s part of the tackle, then no try.”
It was a huge call to make with the game balanced on a knife’s edge, and it knocked the wind out of the Stormers as they had to defend resolutely while Kolisi was off the field.
The Sharks ramped up the pressure and Joe Pietersen drilled a superb 50-metre penalty – after Schalk Burger back-chatted the referee and conceded 10 more metres to make it a kickable penalty – to hand the Durban side a 13-10 lead with 30 minutes to go.
Despite enjoying enough possession throughout, the Stormers couldn’t convert their pressure into enough points. They capitalised on Willie le Roux’s inability to gather Cheslin Kolbe’s chip kick close to the touchline, and young wing Leolin Zas showed good pace to get there and score his second Super Rugby try.
There were flowing passages of play at times in the opening 40 minutes, with the likes of Nizaam Carr, Kolbe and captain Juan de Jongh showing their skill-set with some slick passing and bursts out wide.
But the Sharks frustrated the Stormers into mistakes in the second half, while the home side didn’t enjoy the scrum and lineout ascendancy they achieved against the Bulls and Cheetahs in the opening two rounds.
Sharks captain Tendai Mtawarira and his troops rolled up their sleeves and stuck their heads in wherever possible to disrupt the Cape side, with Springbok flank Marcell Coetzee a real menace at the breakdowns.
It became a war of attrition, and then Joe Pietersen dotted down two minutes before the end as JP Pietersen slipped the tackle of Huw Jones to create the opening.
Even when the Stormers worked their way into the Sharks 22 for a last-gasp charge for victory, a predictable maul was stopped and Burger lost the ball forward about 15 metres short of the tryline.
“Look, I think we played well enough in that first half to be the dominant team, without a doubt. And we went into the second half very comfortable and confident that we can continue with that process,” Fleck said.
“I guess it allowed them back in the game, and credit to them. They defended extremely well, and obviously a good tactical kicking performance. They won three or four clean balls in the air against us – which put us under pressure – but I certainly didn’t feel that we were under any other pressure from them throughout the match.
“I always felt that – even though it became 10-10 – we could turn it around. But credit to them, they held out there defensively and got the win in the end.”
Fleck reported no injuries ahead of next weekend’s clash against the in-form Brumbies at Newlands.
@IndyCapeSport
POINTS-SCORERS
Stormers – Try: Leolin Zas. Conversion: Kurt Coleman (1). Penalty: Coleman (1).
Sharks – Tries: Penalty Try, JP Pietersen. Conversion: Joe Pietersen (1). Penalties: Pietersen (2).