JOHANNESBURG – The Sharks made their presence felt in a nail biter of a Currie Cup fixture played over the weekend.
The Sharks beat MTN Golden Lions at home in a weekend of away wins. They fought their way to a 31-25 victory against the Lions in Johannesburg on Friday September 27.
The talented fly half Fred Zeilinga earning his team a 16-3 lead by the 20th minute thanks to two drop goals, a converted try and a penalty for a full-house of points. The Lions, however, clawed their way back into the match in the second quarter and scored two impressive tries by Derick Minnie and Warren Whitely as they opted for a direct approach on attack and dominated the scrums and lineouts. This combined with a two penalties by flyhalf Elton Jantjies allowed the home team to build up a 20-16 lead at the break.
But playing full pace rugby, the tables turned for the hosts in the second half as they lost the ball in contact and conceded breakdown turnovers at will, which disrupted their momentum and allowed the Sharks to get onto the front foot. The Sharks scored two second-half tries to only one by the Lions, while Zeilinga added another penalty and conversion to increase his points tally for the match to 21.
The sorcerers were as follows: MTN Golden Lions 25 (20) – Tries: Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Warren Whiteley. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Jantjies (2).
The Sharks 31 (16) – Tries: Cobus Reinach, Fred Zeilinga, SP Marais. Conversions: Zeilinga (2). Penalties: Zeilinga (2). Drop Goals: Zeilinga (2).
