Sharks vs Pumas, The Absa Stadium, 23 Jul 10, 19:00 CAT

[Intercept King JDV]

Sharks:
15. Louis Ludik, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Stefan Terblanche (Captain), 12. Patrick Lambie, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Steve Meyer, 9. Charl McLeod, 8. Keegan Daniel, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Alistair Hargreaves, 4. Steven Sykes, 3. Wiehahn Jovan Herbst, 2. Craig Burden, 1. Pat Cilliers

Replacements: 16. Kyle Lorran Cooper, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Ross Skeate, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Rory Kockott, 21. Monty Dumond, 22. Andries Strauss

Pumas:
15. Carl Bezuidenhout, 14. Ashwin Scott, 13. Shaun Venter, 12. Siviwe Wilmot Magaba, 11. Allistair Kettledas, 10. Ricardo Croy, 9. Jacques (Pumas) Coetzee, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Alwyn Bester, 6. Corne Steenkamp, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Eduan Van Der Walt, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin (Captain), 1. Ronnie Uys

Replacements: 16. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17. De-Jay Terblanche, 18. Willem Jacob Serfontein, 19. Jaco Bouwer, 20. Tian Carel Meyer, 21. Elgar Watts, 22. Tiaan Marx

Source

Very interesting to see the Pumas dropping Elgar Watts to the bench after he scored a hat trick against the Leopards last week!Can't see the Sharks loosing this game with such a strong team and they are playing at home.

My prediction: Sharks to win by at least 20 points.

 

[Seaton]

Hoping to see Alberts come on, he'll most likely replace Rhodes me thinks.

6. Botes
7. Daniel
8. Alberts

Them with Deysel and Kanko still to return.

Happy days.
Heres hoping for 50

 

[User1245]

I really like what Alberts has brought to loose forwards, I rated him highly. Having players like him and Deysel change how we approach the game, for the better.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Can't believe they've dropped Watts,he was the man last week by all accounts. Croy was ok against the Bulls in the first round but a hat trick would usually merit a starting berth. Meh, Pumas by 12.

 

[Intercept King JDV]

Can't believe they've dropped Watts,he was the man last week by all accounts. Croy was ok against the Bulls in the first round but a hat trick would usually merit a starting berth. Meh, Pumas by 12.

To think that a guy from Ireland supports the Currie Cup team that represents the province that I live in here in SA, whilst I support WP from the Cape.Good on you Feicarsinn!

 

[User1245]

Pumas are actually looking very good at the moment. Another Griquas in the making?

 

[Amobokoboko]

Will see the game live today.

 

[User1245]

It's not being televised hey

 

[Feicarsinn]

I'm sick of the lack of Pumas on tv. If the Sharks were playing the Bulls or the Cheetahs Sky would have it like that. It's discrimination I tell ye! Supporting the Pumas is like supporting Watford.

 

[User1245]

The Leopards vs WP game is getting preference :euh:

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I'm sick of the lack of Pumas on tv. If the Sharks were playing the Bulls or the Cheetahs Sky would have it like that. It's discrimination I tell ye! Supporting the Pumas is like supporting Watford.

Elton John bought the Pumas now?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Will it be possible to watch the game afterwards somewhere? Supersport maybe?

 

[User1245]

The Sharks wrapped up their second consecutive bonus point victory at The Absa Stadium when they beat the Pumas 27-17, in a tough game against worthy opposition.
The Pumas came to Durban full of energy and passion and certainly gave The Sharks a run for their money, starting well but ultimately foiled by periods of excellent rugby from the hosts, notably in the second half where they held the Pumas scoreless.

The Sharks were forced to play catch-up as the Pumas came into the game with an underdog label they refused to accept. While The Sharks had plenty of opportunities, they would rue their finishing, something Coach John Plumtree hinted at afterwards saying, "We turned too many balls over and if we had held on, we would have had more opportunities to score."

Keegan Daniel managed to score his team's first try after the visitors had shocked the crowd, scoring first.

With the scores tied at 10-apiece, the visitors delivered a psychological blow on the stroke of half-time when Ronnie Uys managed to get over the line, and with the successful conversion, the Pumas led 17-10 at the break.

Whatever was said at half time galvanised The Sharks and they started looking more decisive on attack. Their second try which evened matters came off a clinical build-up after keeping the ball alive through the phases. It was the perfect answer and came at the right time to counter the earlier score from the visitors.

Keegan Daniel was then driven over in the corner for his second try as The Sharks took the lead for the first time in the game. They controlled the remainder of the match but there wasn't a lot between the sides with neither able to really stamp their authority completely.

The Pumas were forced to play with scraps of possession and failed to score a solitary point in the second half while Daniel got over for his third, the bonus point heralding try and an important score for The Sharks.

They travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Cheetahs next Saturday in a tough away game.

Sharks: 27 (10)
Tries: Keegan Daniel (3), Charl McLeod
Conversions: Pat Lambie (2)
Penalties: Patrick Lambie (1)

Pumas: 17 (17)
Tries: Christo le Roux, Ronnie Uys
Conversions: Ricardo Croy (2)
Drop-Goal: Ricardo Croy (1)
Penalties:

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

Source

Will it be possible to watch the game afterwards somewhere? Supersport maybe?

Doubt it hey. If you have access to the Sharks magazine show 'Sharkbite' you might get some highlights, but it will be amateur camera work.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It's a shame I wasn't able to watch the match but man o man. What a match it must have been. Trailing 7 points at half time and in the end taking home the points with a total of 4 tries. I was very pessimistic when they lost against the Griquas, giving away a half-time lead. After the magnificent win over the Bulls last week, this is a massive jump towards the play-offs. Loving it!!!

 

[Feicarsinn]

Sigh, a poor second half undoes so much good work. Fair play to the boys, we're holding our own at the very least. Another win would pretty much make certain that we wont be in contention for relegation.

 

[Seaton]

Very poor game from the Sharks I felt.
I had my doubts about Steve Meyer, but the game generally went up a notch after he came on. Monty Dumond looked like a fish out of water.
For all the good ball carrying he did around the park, Burdens too high throwing gave me joy when he was subbed off.

Alberts coming on gave us a little more momentum, but he had a few too many knock-ons, could be a result of coming back from injury.
McLeod did not combine well with Dumond I feel, and he looked a little berift of ideas.

I would like to say the Pumas played well, but to me they really didn't.
It is all well trying to get a bonus point win, but as soon as they turned down those first few kickable penalties, I knew they would become complacent and give the Pumas a sniff. If they had just taken the first 2 penalties, they could have won comfortably.
Hope Plumtree tells Terblanche thaqt he simply cannot turned down those points early on. This showed little respect, and it might come back to bite them

 

[Amobokoboko]

I enjoyed watching the game, ideal to start the weekend. Not the best game ever but had some fun.