The Napier game between the Hurricanes and Sharks had lessons for both teams, and a huge life lesson for everybody else.
The Sharks were magnificent, with their aggressive attack and defence (mostly), a ray of hope for them and the Springboks. Every forward charge had mean intent and generally made progress even while being tackled. Their backs had a similar goal, and if they weren’t running into gaps they were powering into the tackle and setting up the next assault.
In all they must have dominated about 80 per cent of the game. They have to ask themselves why they didn’t win from there.
The Hurricanes were freak opportunists, who created or exploited any chances that came their way while messing around in a lot of their play. The kickoffs were a classic demonstration of how superior the Sharks were in the fundamentals.
Every Shark dropout towered into the air and gave their players so much time to get to the ball deep in the Hurricanes’ half. The Hurricanes’ dropouts were meek hand-overs of the ball to the opposition, who promptly returned the ball to the half way. Well into the second half the Hurricanes tried a short kick, which was a long time to absorb what was going on.
The Hurricanes badly missed the never-say-die physicality of Ardie Savea. He has the same refusal to stop which makes Jean-Luc Du Preez such a good player. Without Savea the Hurricanes forwards can get bullied, as they were at Napier.
Also Ihaia West showed his flair and his flakiness. Brilliant moments, like his backhander for the first try and his resilience to kick the last conversion to win the game, counterbalanced by his first conversion miss, the kick out on the full, and the almost charge down which ironically led to Vince Aso’s try – possibly a 14-point turn around.
The Sharks need to understand why they lost a game they totally dominated. The Hurricanes need to get a lot more physical and not rely on freakish talent to save them – they’ve used up all their get out of jail free cards. And we all can learn a lesson.
How the Sharks have revived their fortunes from the rabble that lost to the Rebels; how the Hurricanes kept at it when all seemed lost; and what a fantastic game rugby can be when both sides give it a go.
cuw
Guest
"Equally it could be asked, how only the Sharks were deemed to have been at fault 6 times consecutively?" i dont care - simply becoz this is not the only match it happened. i saw Kubo warn Chiefs and do nothing , i saw Peyper warn Lions and do nothing , and many others that i have forgotten after watching many matches. my point is that if a ref keeps on penalizing one side a few times , then a card must come after about 3 -4 consecutive penalties. otherwise what is the point of it all? last night Chiefs v Gloucester match , 4 consecutive penalties and the fifth is a card to Glos. look at the penalty counts of super rugger - they are very high. and then look at how many have been to the bin - very few. this is not the case in Aviva ( and perhaps Top 14 ). i just dont like repeated infringements that blunt the attacking side. one eyes reffing is a different matter that can only be solved with neutral refs. but refs being reluctant to give cards is not doing any good to super rugger.
Harry Jones
Expert
Sharks lost because they tried not to lose. Should’ve kept trying to win.
GlennS
Guest
Go Mali! I enzed was part of the commonwealth?? We have these games going on right now you should be part of them
cuw
Guest
perhaps becoz the way the ref goes about affects the fortunes of both. i dont think the super rugger refs are not doing a good job. i saw a nice reffing performance from JP DOYLE in the Wasps v Sale match . when Sale beat Wasps 28:27 way after the 80th minute. that was a match and a half !!!
Ken Catchpole’s Other Leg
Guest
Tim, referee performance is a developed craft. Incompetence affects outcomes. (World Cup 2007 NZ vs France pour example) Referee competence is important. Otherwise we could just let the two captains resolve decisions and give the ref the night off. This ref did indeed have an off night. Lopsided refereeing. Can’t imagine conscious bias. Maybe a crowd pleaser wanting more gigs in NZ?
Ken Catchpole’s Other Leg
Guest
Felix, putting aside the extremity of your accusation here, I will say that I saw a significant imbalance in the penalty count. In one example, the ruck demolishing Shark late in the game was pinged for going off his feet because he had pushed three Canes players over (they collapsed under him). What? That is called a counter ruck and excellently executed. The referee seemed to be watching one team only late in the match. Don’t know why an Aussie ref would want to help a NZ one. Nevertheless it seemed he did. Can’t imagine conscious bias. Maybe he was star struck? Or crowd struck?
Ken Catchpole’s Other Leg
Guest
cuw ‘one point in the second half Sharks had committed 6 fouls ( penalties ) straight. so when does a card come??’ Equally it could be asked, how only the Sharks were deemed to have been at fault 6 times consecutively? As lopsided as Jaco in SA at times this refereeing display was very poor. Don’t know what he was thinking but it wasn’t balanced. Hurricane gridiron blockers had free reign was just one imbalance.
Tim Reynolds
Roar Pro
It's interesting when you write an article like this. I hope that it will stimulate some thinking at a level deeper than the ref was a cheat, etc, etc. The Sharks played a brilliant game and should have won. But it wasn't the ref's fault that the Hurricanes pulled off a great move for Barrett's try; or that West was able to split the line and give the backhander to Laumape. Just like it wasn't the ref's fault that the Sharks got the tries they did - it was a mixture of their skill and the Hurricanes' errors. I hoped to get people thinking about how the Sharks lost from their position of dominance - and not just blame the ref. And how the Hurricanes hung in while everything was against them. And what a great game it was right up until the 84th minute. There was so much good in the game to marvel at. Why do we descend to petty nitpicking on such occasions?
savant
Guest
Note to all teams. Nic Berry doesn't watch rucks. You can get away with a lot when he refs.
cuw
Guest
nope - that was again not very good at one point in the second half Sharks had committed 6 fouls ( penalties ) straight. so when does a card come?? as i said on another post - it seems refs are under instructions to keep players on the park. in one match the ref sad- " we had a warning - now we have another warning ". in the Lions match - peyper says no more fouls at the mauls. so does it mean its ok to foul in other aspects of the game? then he says no more fouls in the 5m. in fact i take my hat off to the saffa commentary who said it will be better for all to award a penalty try and end the game rather than dragging it on. if u notice in these matches - the yellows for repeat fouls come out after 70 minutes. and some dont even give ( like Kubo when he reffed the chiefs a few weeks back). this is a big problem . if u saw Waraahs match - Hooper commits a foul and then walks of without even looking a the ref. as if he knew that was a sure- card - offense. i think that kind of thing is not good.
Dave
Guest
Great game, but I thought there was a serious refereeing error at 80.50 when a penalty was given for a Sharks player was penalised for not clearing the ruck. In fact the the Sharks player and a Canes player had been rucking/wrestling and the Sharks player was thrown back behind the ruck between the ball and the halfback. If a Canes player tried to throw him there why should he be penalised? He certainly wasn’t lingering on the ground. Looked like another case of a ref thinking his main job is to find reasons to give penalties. From the penalty the Hurricanes kicked from near halfway to close to the goalline and the try resulted from that. If there was one pivotal moment to explain the Sharks’ loss, that was it. But I’m happy to be educated otherwise.
Die hard
Roar Rookie
I am just saying I thought it was a fantastic game. Fantastic skills, pace flair and drama. Excellent contest. Both teams deserved to win. It was a shame to see a loser. The officials were what they were. I don't think they affected the outcome
The Sheriff
Guest
Any fair spectator would say the better team lost.
Tim Reynolds
Roar Pro
Sometimes editorial changes can polish an article, and sometimes they can make it look like the writer doesn't know their facts. West's backhander that led to a try did not produce "the first try" but the first one for Laumape. I'm not sure why the editor chose to not give Laumape his moment in the sun. Re Ardie Savea's possible impact on this game, it would have been more in the symbolic area of showing the rest of the Hurricanes pack that they could fight fire with fire. Often the Hurricanes forwards were driven back by Sharks backs. And what about Robert Du Preez's kicking? That gives the Sharks the confidence to really have a go, knowing they already have about 15 points in the bank.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Dodged a bullet on that one it must be said. I wonder how much of that was due to missing B.B. and TJ (for the most part). Hard to gauge as the game was really dominated by the Sharks forwards, but maybe with more experience and smarts the ‘Canes may have adjusted earlier. It’s in the books now though, and a win is a win.
Peter Kelly
Guest
The drama that is rugby - sometimes you just never no why the scoreboard wasn't in your favour, at 72 minutes it looked like the sharks had done enough, at 85 it would seem not, kiwi team seem to be able to play till they win regardless of the clock - if you read the stats without the score the sharks won but theres only one stat that matters at final whistle. The looks and reactions from both teams said it all - stunned and in disbelief sharks very jubilant hurricanes
Ben
Guest
Not so sure Ardie is the player that can stop those big safa forwards "bullying" us. As Hansen and co point out hes not a dominant tackler and is more often a scragger..much like Hooper. The dominant tacklers like Cane, Reid, Kaino are the players that stop bullying. I thought the canes were down a level or 2 that they show in the kiwi derbies. We didnt deserve to win this one but champion teams find ways to. To play poorly without Beauden and a lot of the game without Perenara and win, is extremely positive. Still on target......
felix
Guest
Cheating antipodeans,Australian ref is the same as a New Zealand ref. Both want to see SA lose. Shame on you for doing it so blatantly,reminds me of Bryce Lawrence,stuff the whole super rugby,its 2 against 1.