FULL-TIME, SHARKS 21-15 STORMERS. There are no more words. Hope you enjoyed following the action… a great rugby match and a thrilling end, but the Sharks deserved winners.
TMO says NO TRY! Such a sad end to an incredible contest. I wonder if the TMO saw the knock on or went back looking for it. It was the slightest of tap forwards from Libbok in the scrumhalf role… something that would never be spotted by most onfield refs… what could have been a most incredible fightback ends rather flat, but credit to both sides for a fantastic contest.
Marne Libbok runs onto a pass 10 from the Sharks line and then dives over behind the poles… a most incredible, spectacular, brilliant piece of team play from the Stormers. BUT NO… the TMO is looking at a knock-on…
ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE……………
Stormers drive into the 22, pressure, pressure, pressure… break after break is held up until…
Great running from the Stormers… Gelant gets dumpe on the halfway line…
PENALTY TRY! 21-15; The Stormers will have ball in hand against 14 men… if they can retain possession, it will allow them a chance to snatch a dramatic win!
Stormers drive and drive for the line, desperatefor a consolation try… the Sharks defence is incredible, holding the Stormers up… they look to break but the Sharks are blown for another interceptas Fassi rises to grab the ball… he can't catch it and he denied three Stormers players outside him… so Fassi gets the yellow card and…
Sharks blown for challenging in the air. Stormers lineout on the 5m line…
Sharks blown for hands in the scrum… this time Libbok finds his touch.
Stormers press into the Sharks half, but the home side are blown for offside. Libbok's kick skews away from the touchline and goes out through the Sharks in-goal area. Libbok turned around as if he might have slipped or heard something that distracted him. No way they can win from here… Sharks scrum inside their 22…
Sharks run from the scurm inside their 10m line, but Esterhuizen knocks on. Scrum Stormers. Have to score now…
Some scrappy play from both sides again, another attempt at an intercept that breaks up a promising Stormers attack. Sharks win a penalty on their 22 and its kicked to touch. Time now very much against the Stormers…
… Stormers run the line, Libbok sends a long pass down the line …but FASSI rises to grab it, and the Stormers' attack is broken down when a try looked certain.
Stormers win the lineout, run the line to the poles and press-press-press…
Sharks under huge pressure manage to kick clear from inside their in-goal area. Stormers win the lineout and POWER forward to the Sharks 5m… they press them hard and win a penalty… Libbok kicks it for a 5m lineout.
Stormers win the scrum and run the ball, into the Sharks half… Gelant with another grubber through to the Sharks 22…
Play stops for an injury on the halfway line …we'll resume with a Sharks scrum.
Sharks press them back to the halfway line…
Stormers pressing hard now but not finding a way through the Sharks.
CONVERSION, SHARKS, HENDRIKSE! 21-8; Under the poles, no problemo!
TRY, SHARK, ESTERHUIZEN! 19-8; Andre Esterhuizen bursts through, collecting a pass from the back of the scrum and driving over for the try unchallenged.
Sharks press up into the Stormers half, this looks promising…
Sharks press up into the Stormers half, this looks promising…
Stormers press forward but the Sharks keep them at bay.
BRILLIANT TRY from the Sharks… again running from inside their 22 with Esterhuizen breaking through tackles… Lukhanyo Am doing the goose step before passing inside, the try being converted by Hooker… but they are called back for an obstruction by Vincent Tsituka… was quite subtle but it did give the Sharks an advantage. Try denied! Pity as it was a superb passage of play by the Sharks.
MAPIMPI! The Bok winger gathers the ball from a Stormers kick and threads through four tackles to take the ball up to the halfway line… Stormers kick back…
Stormers win a penalty to break down a Sharks attack, Libbok kicking it past the Sharks 10m for a lineout.
CROSSBAR! Libbok's conversion attempt from the left touchline slaps against the cross bar and back infield. That's nine points the Stormers have lost… and only that last one was a tough kick. They might well rue those misses.
TRY, STORMERS, ZAS! 14-8; Stormers run the ball to the left wing, there's a lovely grubber through that rolls to just past the 5m… bounces up just in time for Leolin Zas to gather and crash over for the try… TMO calls it not offside, so the try stands! Lovely play by the Stormers. It was probably offside but no angle could show conclusively… so the try stands, and a lovely one it was.
Stormers blown for wheeling the scrum and the Sharks clear upfield.
FRANTIC START! Sharks first power down the right wing inside the Stormers 22, but the visitors counter and run up the Sharks' right wing, feeding the ball to the wing… play pulls infield and the Sharks manage to win a scrum 8m from their line…
KICK-OFF! Second half is underway…
HALF-TIME! SHARKS 14-3 STORMERS. Great play from the Sharks… but John Dobson will be glad to his boys into the dressing-room for a dressing down and pick me up. Expect a different Stormers display in the second half, while the Sharks are likely to raise their game as well!
Stormers break but the Sharks steal possession and drive play back into the Stormers 22, and push deep, only for the Stormers to clear upfield.
Stormers push the Sharks back to their 10m and win a scrum…
Sharks power down the left wing, Mapimpi with a great run but the Stormers hold them up and finally clear the danger.
DROP-GOAL, STORMERS, FEINBERG-MNGOMEZULU! 14-3; Great snap drop taken by the Stormers flyhalf under a bit of pressure. Stormers on the board!
Stormers run the ball beautifully… Libbok passes wide to Gelant, with a man outside him… but he spills the pass! Disaster for the Stormers!
Oh dear, Libbok's kick misses the posts. Stormers needed that.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is off for an HIA and Marne Libbok is on… and he will take a kick for poles straight away.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu storms into a pack of Sharks and takes a heavy knock… he looks dazed and the TMO is checking out for head contact, but he's happy everything is above board… make that, below board. Stormers will still have a penalty advantage.
Sharks blown for a penalty just past the 22m and about 20 in from touch… but Feinberg-Mngomezulu just pushes his kick and the flags stay down.
Stormers push the Sharks back to the halfway line and they scrum again.
A lot of scrummaging happening but not much movement back or forth…
Sharks back biting at the Stormers defence, pressing them towards their 22… but play stops for a wounded Shark.
CONVERSION, SHARKS, MASUKU! 14-0; Under the posts, not even an issue!
TRY, SHARKS, KOLISI! 12-0; Kiolisi takes the pass from the scrum, fakes a dummy and breaks through the eye of the Stormers' defensive wall, then throws himself in the air to score under the poles! Great power play. Stand up if you mean business, Stormers!
GREAT RUNNING FROM THE SHARKS down the left wing, Richardson powering through tackles and then continuing up to the 5m… Sharks run the ball right, the Stormers defending frantically…
CONVERSION, SHARKS, MASUKU! 7-0; The Sharks flyhalf strikes it perfectly from a step or two from the right tryline, the ball curling perfectly through the posts.
TRY, SHARKS, HOOKER! 5-0; Great ball run quickly to the right, finds Fassi who joins the line and powers forward, drawing his man 8m from the tryline and sending it to Hooker on the wing, the Shark drifting inside and powering over the line for the superb try.
Stormers collapse the scrum and are penalised… Sharks runs quick to their 10m and win another penalty, this one kicked into the Stormers 22 for an attacking lineout. Great recovery from the Sharks.
Stormers run the ball from the lineout, then pull back in to take on the Sharks forwards… but they are blown up and the Sharks clear to their 10m for the lineout.
Great work from the Sharks to win the ball back, Siya Masuku clearing well to send the lineout back near the Sharks 22m.
Stormers piling on the pressure, running the ball inside the 22 and winning a scrum that is upgraded shortly to a penalty… and it's kicked to touch for a 5m lineout…
GREAT START FROM THE STORMERS, powering into the Sharks 22 and being brought down just short of their 5m… Stormers being awarded a scrum.
KICK-OFF! We're underway here at Kings Park…
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa). Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa) and Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa). TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa).
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Manie Libbok.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Vincent Tsituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Emmanuel Tshituka, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Jordan Hendrikse.
The Stormers eased into October with a 36-5 away win over Zebre Parma, before losing on the road to Edinburgh 38-7. They then enjoyed a solid 34-19 home win over Munster, before losing 28-17 at home to Glasgow Warriors.
The Sharks started with a 33-30 away win over the Dragons, followed by a thumping 38-10 loss away to Benetton. They found their winning touch again at home, beating Glasgow Warriors 28-24 and knocking over Munuster to the tune of 41-24.
The teams last saw URC action in October, before the international break, with the Sharks winning three out of four matches while the Stormers
Lower down the table, the Stormers have played also five games in the URC this season, winning two and losing three. They have a minus-9 points difference, having scored 118-127-152 points this season. They have scored 13 tries while conceding 17.
The Sharks have played five, won three and lost two. They have a minus-10 points difference, having scored 142-152 points this season. They have dotted down 17 times, along with conceding 22 tries.
The Sharks are currently five points and four places above the Stormers, although the Sharks' current 9th-place position is outside of the knockout places, so there is a lot of work for both sides to do. On a positive note, the Sharks are just four points behind 3rd-placed Bulls, so a lot can still happen this season.
The Stormers have a decent points average against the Sharks over those last five games, the Stormers averaging 27-18 against the Sharks.
It's all looking in favour for the Stormers, who have won all five of their last five matches against the Sharks, although there have been some close-runs matches in there.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Manie Libbok.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Vincent Tsituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Ethan Bester, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Emmanuel Tshituka, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Jordan Hendrikse.
First up… the line-ups for today's battle.
Good evening and welcome to Kings Park Stadium for a full-throttle clash between the Sharks and the Stormers.