Craig Lewis
Sharks 30 (23) Western Province 10 (10)
The Sharks secured their sixth Currie Cup title with a stunning 30-10 win over Western Province at a packed Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening.
Ultimately, the resounding victory was built on a stunning 20-point blitz in the opening quarter, during which time Charl McLeod and Pat Lambie scored two superb tries.
The visitors opened the scoring through the boot of Willem de Waal within the opening couple of minutes after Stefan Terblanche conceded a penalty, but there was an almost immediate response from the Sharks as Lambie slotted a three-pointer of his own.
Minutes later, the final came alive as the Sharks counter-attacked from within their own 22 after Bismarck du Plessis had exacted a superb turn-over. The ball went out to Charl McLeod who put in an excellent kick over the top that was gathered by Lwazi Mvovo, and he then got the pass back to McLeod to go over for the first try.
20-year-old Pat Lambie then scored one of the solo tries of the season as he slipped through three tackles to score an absolute scorcher under the posts, and with his conversion the Sharks unbelievably led 17-3.
Lambie was then on hand once again in the 17th minute to kick another penalty, and when De Waal uncharacteristically missed his second penalty of the night moments later, it exemplified how everything was going the way of the Sharks.
To add to Western Province’s woes, both Ricky Januarie and Juan de Jongh went off in the first half with injuries, but they did get a bit of a reprieve when TMO Shaun Veldsman awarded Schalk Burger a try in the 37th minute.
Earlier on, Lambie had kicked his third penalty, so when De Waal converted Province’s first try it took the score to 23-10, and so it remained until half-time.
It was a tough grind in the first half an hour after the break as both teams traded blows, with WP continuing to kick to the corner rather than posts, it didn’t work for them and the score remained unchanged.
To the jubilant cries of the crowd, Lambie scored the winning try in the 78th minute, rounding off an incredible night for the Sharks and the 20-year-old.
Points scorers
Sharks
Tries: Charl McLeod, Pat Lambie (2)
Conversions: Pat Lambie (3)
Penalties: Pat Lambie (3)
Western Province
Tries: Schalk Burger
Conversions: Willem de Waal
Penalties: Willem de Waal