The Sharks finally manage a win in Australasia while the Chiefs blow away the Bulls
Friday 22 May 2015 12:43, UK
The Sharks recorded a 21-14 win over the Reds in Brisbane to restore some respectability to their Australasian tour.
The men from Durban started the match with the expansive rugby that they've been promising for 14 weeks, opening the scoring in the first five minutes with a penalty from inside centre Francois Steyn after sustained pressure inside Reds territory.
They followed it up with a try from Stefan Ungerer, who spotted a gap on the blindside off the back off a scrum and ran all the way to score the first try of the game. A touchline conversion from Steyn meant the Sharks took a 10-0 lead into the second quarter.
It was the Reds who scored next, running the ball from deep in their own half to create a sweeping move up the length of the field, ending with a Chris Kuridrani score in the corner which was also converted.
Steyn added a further two penalties to make it 16-7 to the Sharks going into the break.
It was the Reds who opened the scoring in the second half with a superb line from Samu Kerevi to crash over after the Reds turned down a kick for poles in favour of a quick tap.
The scores remained unchanged thereafter for the majority of the second period before an unbelievable blunder from James O'Connor resulted in a try to the Sharks. Sitting in the pocket for a clearance kick deep in his own in-goal area, O'Connor succeeded in kicking straight to the chasing Ungerer, who only had to catch the ball and dot it down for his second try of the night.
Ungerer’s try was the decisive one for his side, as the Sharks closed the game out for an important win on the road.
Expansive Chiefs blast past Bulls
The Chiefs beat the Bulls 34-20 at the Rotorua International Stadium on Friday morning with an impressively expansive performance in front of their home fans.
The two sides were locked at 15-15 at half-time before the Chiefs pulled away thanks to two second-half tries from scrum-half Augustine Pulu. In the first half the Bulls were able to match the high-tempo rugby that was set by the home side, with Bjorn Basson and Jan Serfontein crossing the whitewash to match the tries scored by Liam Messam and Bryce Heem.
A penalty and conversion apiece to the two kickers meant the sides went into the break with all to play for.
The initial stages of the second half started equally as evenly as the first, with both sides cancelling out the efforts of the other in the tight exchanges as well as open play.
In the end though, the pace of the game was too much for the Bulls to handle, and they conceded two tries in the space of three minutes which took them too far out of the game to recover.
The tries were scored Pulu on the back of explosive rugby from the home side, led by his half-back partner, 20-year old Damian McKenzie.
The Bulls came back well with 15 minutes remaining; their attacking play earning a series of penalties that resulted in a yellow card for flanker Sam Kane. The visitors were able to score a try in that period, but Handre Pollard missed the conversion that would have brought them within seven points.
In the end it didn't matter as winger Tim Nanai-Williams dotted down with no time remaining to give his side a comfortable win at home as they cemented fourth place in the overall standings.
