Super Rugby: Blues 23-18 Sharks
By AFP
Last Updated: 18/04/16 2:39pm
Winger Rieko Ioane cracked a tiring Sharks defence in the 64th minute for a try that gave the Blues a 23-18 win on Saturday.
The Sharks had led from the ninth minute, when captain Tendai Mtawarira scored their opening try, until the 64th minute when Ioane burst between Mtawarira and hooker Franco Marais and dashed 30 meters to the tryline.
Outstanding defence had kept the Sharks in front during that 55-minute period but as the high pace of the game and toll of travel began to tell, the Sharks started to slip off tackles and make handling errors.
Ioane capitalised, scoring the try that levelled the match at 18-18 and allowing flyhalf Ihaia West to nudge the Blues ahead with the conversion. West also added a penalty on the tick of full-time.
The first half was frentic and featured a bombardment of kicks from both sides but mostly from the Durban-based Sharks that detected a weakness under the high ball among the Blues back three.
Mtawarira's try stemmed from one such kick that was misjudged by Ioane. Flyhalf Joe Pietersen reclaimed the ball from the Sharks, setting up a ruck close to the Blues' line where Mtawarira barged over.
That gave the Sharks a 5-3 lead, cancelling out an early West penalty.
The Blues continued to lack structure and coherence as they have throughout the season. Though they had a heavy surplus of possession, they lacked line breakers and tended to shuffle the ball from one flank to the other.
Pietersen kicked two penalties to extend the lead to 11-3 before George Moala on the field for only two minutes as an injury replacement for Rene Ranger scored for the Blues to send the teams to halftime at 11-10.
The Sharks seemed to have struck a vital blow when center Paul Jordaan scored a brilliant try in the first minute of the second spell, extending their lead to 18-10. But it was from that point that they started to tire and their handling, defence and lineout work began to fray.
West narrowed the margin with a penalty and Ioane's late try clinched the Blues' third win of the season, ending a run of 10 straight losses to the Sharks.
"We did well in the first half but it was just a couple of soft moments that let us down," Mtawarira said. "I thought the energy levels were okay but one slipped tackle and a couple of mistakes and then we were under pressure in the last 10 minutes."
