In a Currie Cup littered with the young and uninitiated, it was the seasoned and now slightly greying Lionel Cronje who drove the Sharks to their first win in this season's competition at Ellis Park yesterday.
His master class helped inflict a first defeat on the Lions, who will look back at this performance with little pride.
Cronje, sure of foot, hand and mind, helped engineer the Lions’ demise with a stellar performance that saw him contribute 15 points in the Sharks’ 35-22 victory.
It was, however, the manner in which Cronje pegged the Lions back with a fine exhibition of out of hand kicking that helped shape the course of events. The Lions’ kicking was truly abysmal. When the hosts applied the boot, they invariably found a player in black awaiting the ball’s arrival.
Apart from Cronje, the Sharks had another miracle worker in midfield.
Junior Springbok Jurenzo Julius showed his star quality on debut. He is a bundle of relentless energy that the Lions found difficult to contain — no more so than the marauding run in the 24th minute, that saw him shrug off would-be defenders as if he were the senior in an age group game.
Julius scored again in the second half when his deft footwork thrust fresh impetus into a move that appeared to have broken down.
The Lions’ shortfalls were apparent elsewhere too. A slew of scrum penalties also conspired against the Lions, who were mostly clawless until they rallied in the final quarter. It was their sins earlier in the game, however, that was to leave a lasting impression.
Earlier, the home team lacked continuity and did not pose a serious threat to the Sharks’ try-line in the opening half. The Sharks, by contrast, were ruthless when opportunities fell their way.
Cronje’s delicate but stinging probe with the boot, which led to a try for Reniel Hugo, was a telling blow.
The Sharks were 20-3 up by the break but soon matters got worse for the hosts. A red card to lock Ruben Schoeman four minutes into the second half seemed to seal the Lions’ fate.
Two minutes later, they lost centre Manuel Rass, who was interminably in the care of the medics before he left the field on the back of a medical cart.
The Lions, mostly through their bench, drew inspiration from those events and advanced the scoreboard but crucially so too did the Sharks.
In another match, the Bulls went top of table as they kept their unblemished record intact with a 50-34 win over Western Province at Loftus Versfeld.
Western Province scored three tries in racking up 27 points in the first half but were barely recognisable after the break. The Bulls hit back after the restart when No 8 Mpilo Gumede set out on a solo run that helped get his team back into the game.
Western Province looked thoroughly rattled by the time Zak Burger’s quick pick-and-go got the Bulls in front by the 53rd minute. The momentum was firmly with the Bulls, and it came as little surprise when hooker Joe van Zyl rounded off after the hosts opted to go the direct route against an increasingly fragmented defence.
Although a 63rd minute Angelo Davids try got Western Province back into the contest, tries by Juann Else and Jaco van der Walt put the issue beyond doubt.
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