Sharks win Currie Cup battle of the bottom dwellers to leave Western Province winless after five rounds

It was the Sharks who ultimately waltzed over the line at Kings Park on Friday night in a Currie Cup match with Western Province that was the Dance of the "desperates", winning 29-21.

Neither side had won a game in four attempts and were rooted to the bottom of the log, but it was the Sharks that “did a Wallabies” and shrugged off a terrible start to come back from the dead and win the game.

That speaks volumes for the fighting spirit that coach JP Pietersen has engendered in a side with an average age under 23.

Both teams have unashamedly relegated the Currie Cup to extended trials in which the hope is that there will be a revelation of players worthy of featuring in the United Rugby Championship.

To that end, Sharks coach John Plumtree will keep an eye on wing Phiko Sobahle, and Stormers coach John Dobson will know what he has in flank Paul de Villiers.

Both teams had nothing to lose when they kicked off, with heavy evening dew saturating Kings Park, which made conditions difficult.

The Sharks were under pressure at scrum time. Province had a veteran in Scarra Nutbeni at hooker, and he made a big difference.

After 13 minutes of pressure, the Sharks seemed to score on the counter, with left wing Jaco Williams finishing neatly, but there was a knock-on in the build-up.

Province had the ascendancy, and the dam wall broke when De Villiers, who was one of the young standouts in the Stormers’ last URC campaign, burst over from close quarters.

Two minutes later, it was 14-0 when a grubber through the defence, close to the Sharks’ tryline, saw nippy scrumhalf Ezekiel Ngobeni pounce and score.

On the half-hour mark, the Sharks scrum suddenly came alive, and from the unexpected front foot ball, the backs attacked, and a poorly executed kick into space bounced off a WP back and into space for the promising wing, Sobahle, to enjoy a fortuitous gather and score.

Sobahle is a dead ringer for another former Sharks No 14, Sbu Nkosi, and he has the potential to also earn Springbok colours.

Jean Smith, the son of Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith, could not convert.

He more than made up for that as the game hit 40 minutes when he did a Manie Libbok and cross-kicked perfectly to left wing Jaco Williams, who snatched the ball out of the air and dived over.

The conversion meant the Sharks had narrowed the score to 12-14 at the break.

The home team’s resurgence exploded from the restart, with prop Phatu Ganyane barreling over, and Smith nudging over the conversion. Out of nowhere, the Sharks had gone from 0-14 to 19-14.

The Capetonians must have felt similar to the Springboks at Ellis Park against the Wallabies.

The Sharks increased their lead through Junior Springbok heavyweight Batho Hlekani.

A late try by Province’s Brendon Venter gave his team hope had 26-21 but a late Smith penalty sealed the deal for the Sharks.

Scorers

Sharks — Tries: Phiko Sobahle, Jaco Williams, Phatu Ganyane, Batho Hlekani. Conversions: Jean Smith. (3). Penalty: Smith.

Western Province — Tries: Paul de Villiers, Ezekiel Ngobeni, Brendon Venter. Conversions: Kyle Smith (3).