Following the Sharks’ 7-10 defeat to a youthful Leinster outfit, here’s how we rated John Plumtree’s men in the United Rugby Championship clash.
Sharks player ratings v Leinster
15 Yaw Penxe: He has been in a good run of form of late, but that did not extend to his 64 minutes at full-back today. He botched an early try, one he really should have finished and was put under pressure with the high bombs. 4
14 Ethan Hooker: Held up in a position where he has repeatedly grabbed tries from. That was more defensive brilliance than anything he did wrong, in fairness. A solid outing as he made good out of the scraps that came his way. 6
13 Jurenzo Julius: A bit lucky to avoid an early card and soon after isolated himself with ball-in-hand, giving up a threatening position. Not terrible, but not up to his usual standard. 5
12 Andre Esterhuizen: Can hold his head up high as he, like many of the other Springboks, put in a strong performance in terms of their positional requirements. He thundered over the advantage line time and time again, but his teammates were just unable to make the most of it. 7
11 Makazole Mapimpi: Stopped the Leinster attack multiple times with sharp reads and interventions defensively. Continues to be a nuisance for the opposition, but would have loved some more space to stretch his legs. 6
10 Jordan Hendrikse: Usually effective when carrying the ball to the line but was quickly shut down by the Jacques Nienaber-led defence and failed to really get the backline firing. The Sharks needed their nine and 10 to steer the ship, and they didn’t. 4
9 Jaden Hendrikse: He is undoubtedly an intelligent player, but he was too smart for his own good as he swiped his leg out to dislodge the ball from a carry so close to the line. Hendrikse was duly sent to the sin bin as his dark arts trickery ultimately led to Leinster’s opening try. It was not only that action that proved costly, as for the next 10 minutes the Sharks lacked real rhythm in attack with forwards regularly plugging his void. Still, his form is not up to scratch, and it proved pivotal today. 3
Back-five forwards
8 Siya Kolisi: After scoring back-to-back braces in the URC, Kolisi has set a high benchmark, and while he did not rise to that standard, he was still effective in the tight and on defence. 6
7 Vincent Tshituka: A thorn in the Leinster lineout’s side and a relentless work-rate on defence. Blame for the defeat cannot be laid at Tshituka’s feet. 7
6 James Venter: Topped the tackle count (17) along with Tshituka despite departing proceedings in the final quarter. Needed to be a bit more of a threat over the ball, but a decent first start back from injury. 6
5 Emile van Heerden: Lineout fell apart when he and Mbonambi left the pitch. Effective at the breakdown and a nice link man between forwards and backs. 6
4 Jason Jenkins: A rather quiet outing against his former employers. Good in the tight, which is stock-standard for him, but did not impose himself as he used to do in the blue jersey. 5
Front row and bench
3 Vincent Koch: Dominated Cian Healy more often than not in a powerhouse scrummaging display as the Springboks veteran played his part in one of the few really positive areas of the Sharks’ performance. Powerful in defence, too. 8
2 Bongi Mbonambi: The set-pieces worked effectively when he was on the park and grabbed his side’s only try of the game, running the perfect angle off the back of the rolling maul. The top dog had a bigger bite than bark as he continues to show that he is a world-class operator. 8
1 Ox Nche: Completing the hat-trick of Springboks front rowers who put in a performance worthy of their calibre. The loosehead prop did have one poor moment with the ball in hand, but he was put in a tricky situation. Still, he dominated newly capped Thomas Clarkson in the scrums and was excellent in the loose. He earned his cake. 8
Replacements: The Sharks needed a Bomb Squad-esque explosion of intensity in the final moments of the match, but their lineout and maul imploded instead. After his heroics against the Lions, Fez Mbatha’s darts were wayward while his fellow replacement forwards simply didn’t provide the impact needed. Fly-half Siya Masuku needed to kick his penalty deeper into Leinster’s half right at the end of the match. The Sharks needed more. 3
READ MORE: Malcolm Marx recreates Springboks’ 2019 maul masterclass by spearheading demolition in Japan
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/sharks-player-ratings-springboks-heavies-dominate-but-bomb-squad-implodes
