THE Sharks have had their share of travails in a season of strange twists and turns, but the rugby gods made up for it last night when the Durbanites somehow found themselves on the right side of a result that could easily have gone the way of the visiting Force.
The Australians three times crossed the line, and three times were denied the try, twice by the TMO.
The Sharks will argue that they have had their share of misfortune in seven tumultuous rounds of Super Rugby, and were due the rub of the green, but the Aussies will wonder how they butchered what would have been a historic first win in Durban.
In the 70th minute, there was a bizarre, match-winning twist when Bloemfontein old boy Sias Ebersohn missed a sitter that would have given his team a 9-8 lead. From the drop out, Sharks full-back SP Marais gathered and burst through a gap on the blind side, sped 40m down the touchline and put Lwazi Mvovo away for the try. It was a 10-point turnaround that had the Force coaching staff shaking their heads in disbelief.
Marais had himself scored just after half-time when a long, skip pass by flyhalf Frans Steyn missed both centres and bounced for the fullback as he joined the line.
Given the pyrotechnics off the field at the Shark Tank during the past week, it was perhaps inevitable that the eventual on-field matters would pale by comparison, and long periods of this desultory affair were excruciating to watch.
The Sharks looked a team drained of mojo and in dire need of a bye after almost two months of unrelenting combat, including five SA derbies.
There is no respite in sight, the draw sentencing them to 10 on the trot, and it gets ever tougher, with the Crusaders visiting this week and then derbies against the Lions (away) and the Bulls (home).
On Thursday last week, director of rugby Gary Gold sensed the danger posed by the Perth team in a week rife with distractions.
The Western Australians won nine matches last year in their best season since joining Super Rugby in 2006, and in this year’s first round upset the defending champion Waratahs.
Gold described preparation for the match as “the most problematic of a season that has had its share of off-field problems...”
Indeed, the news from the Shark Tank all week was about red cards, suspensions and appeal hearings, and not a lot about the Force, who would have enjoyed quietly getting on with their business under the radar, while the Sharks management were dealing with the inescapable need to rest contracted Springboks, the four-match suspension of captain Bismarck du Plessis, and the bizarre Sanzar attempt of a “retrial’ of Francois Steyn.
The latter was only cleared on Friday to play this match, though it could be a stay of execution in that Sanzar’s appeal against their own rescinding of Steyn’s red card against the Chiefs will now take place on Tuesday.
Whatever the case, regular flyhalf Lambie will be back from his Bok sabbatical, as will Cobus Reinach and Marcell Coetzee.
The Force led 6-0 at half-time through two penalty goals by Ebersohn, but could well have been substantially more ahead. A try appeared to have been scored in the 30th minute when their forwards wrestled over, but the TMO ruled in favour of the Sharks.
The home team certainly deserve praise for their commitment on defence on a night when not much else went well, the set scrum being another positive.
The Sharks scrambled courageously in defending their line, and that created the “luck” that went their way on another two occasions in the second half when the Force were convinced they had scored.
Ultimately the contest between two desperate teams came down to that pivotal miss from Ebersohn. In fairness to the Free Stater, it was just one of a plethora of errors from both sides, but it is the one that will be remembered of an otherwise forgettable game.
Kings Park
Sharks (0) 15
Force (6) 9
Scorers
Sharks: Tries: SP Marais, Lwazi Mvovo. Penalty: Fred Zeilinga. Conversion: Zeilinga
Force: Penalties: Sias Ebersohn (3). – Sunday Tribune