'We’re utterly disappointed' - Seven-try Sharks rout Munster in Durban demolition job
HEAVYWEIGHTS: Brian Gleeson is tackled by Sharks' Vincent Koch at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. Pic: Shaun Roy/Sportsfile
Munster captain JJ Hanrahan did not mince his words after Munster were torn apart 45-0 by the Sharks in a soggy Durban on Saturday night.
The tourists conceded seven unanswered tries, saw their set piece shredded and conceded 13 penalties and 11 handling errors on an evening to forget.
“The bottom line is that we’re utterly disappointed with our performance,” Hanrahan said.
“We came here with good belief and we felt good. We had good training sessions. But look, I suppose we were dominated a bit physically and that’s what we have to front up and face next week.”
Next week means a trip to Loftus Versfeld and a meeting with the Bulls. The men from Pretoria have also struggled this season but the Bulls beat Cardiff 40-7 on Friday to gather some momentum before Munster’s visit.
“We’re on tour, and a tour can be a brilliant place if you’re winning,” Hanrahan said.
“But also, when you’re losing it’s a good place to be around each other because we’re all together and we have these problems and we can solve the problems amongst ourselves. So, it's a good place to be in that sense.”
There was a sense of déjà vu about how events unfolded during this clash as the Sharks’ scrum buckled Munster’s, which in turn formed the foundation of the home team’s dominance.
Last November the Springboks’ scrum destroyed the Irish pack at the Aviva and while the actors were different at King’s Park, the plot was almost the same.
The Sharks were utterly commanding on the back of an outstanding pack and clinical attack in wet and slippery conditions.
They scored seven unanswered tries, could have scored a few more and also defended with unflinching brutality.
Wing, Makazole Mapimpi, on the occasion of his 100th match for the Sharks, waited until the 80th minute for his first try and from the restart scored his second.
Mapimpi collected the restart and made 60 metres to score his team’s seventh to seal what was a superb victory for a brilliant collective team effort.
The Sharks pack was simply irresistible on the night, winning six scrum penalties and poaching several lineouts to leave Munster without any foothold in the game.
Behind the home team’s superior pack, the Sharks’ backline – spearheaded by Bok scrumhalf Grant Williams and debutant fullback Luan Giliomee – made the forward power count.
There will be a few Munster players who might have nightmares about monstrous inside centre Andre Esterhuizen, who was brutal both on attack and defence.
It was easily the Sharks best and most clinical display of an erratic season, while it might well have been the most passive and indifferent of the Munster URC campaign so far.
Munster still remain in the play-off race, but the pressure will mount now with the Bulls at Loftus to come.
The Sharks are in a position of needing to win all of their remaining games, which is hard to believe given this performance, but they can go forward positively after such a commanding display.
The tourists simply didn’t have any answers for the intensity of the Sharks, mostly because their pack was emasculated. The sheer physicality of the home team overwhelmed a slightly lacklustre Munster.
From that foundation of dominance Munster spent much of the match on the back foot as the Sharks enjoyed more than 50% of the territory and almost as much possession.
The home team opened the scoring when flank Phepsi Buthelezi scored from the base of a rolling maul. That move had its genesis from two penalties, one a breakdown infringement and another from a scrum.
The Sharks kicked both penalties to touch and despite a good effort in repelling the first series of attacks, Munster could do nothing to prevent the Sharks’ pack from the next lineout.
In the 28th minute Giliomee capped a fine debut with a lovely team try that started from a penalty kick to touch and some clinical interplay by the backs.
With a 12-0 lead the game was still in the balance and Munster spent the final 10 minutes of the half deep inside Sharks territory.
They had their chances to score but the Sharks’ intensity on defence was too much for the tourists, who ran down blind alleys and eventually coughed the ball up. In all Munster made 11 handling errors.
“We weren’t clinical enough in the first half with a couple of opportunities there, right from the line and whether it was we pulled out the ball too early or we weren’t good enough to get over the line in the first half,” Hanrahan admitted.
“It was kind of tight; it was 12-0 at halftime but we probably left one or two scores behind us and then late in the second half their power just got away from us.”
It took 12 minutes after the break for the Sharks to score their third try, which started from a 50/22 kick from Giliomee and ended with prop Phati Ganyane scoring from close range.
That prompted Munster coach Clayton McMillan to send on seven of his bench in one go, but it didn’t stem the flow of scoring.
The Sharks secured their bonus point when lock Emile van Heerden finished a fine move that involved Giliomee, wing Yaw Penxe, Jordan Hendrikse and Williams in the build-up.
From then on it was about pride for Munster as they tried in vain to score some points.
In the end though, it was Mapimpi who fittingly had the final say to mark a remarkable milestone for one of South Africa’s favourite rugby sons.
“We’ll take our learnings, we’ll get around each other and we'll 100% feel the hurt this week and we'll get better,” Hanrahan said.
P Buthelezi, L Giliomee, P Ganyane, E van Heerden, L Malan, M Mapimpi (2);
J Hendrikse (3), J Smith (2).
N/S
15 L Giliomee (H Kunene 69), 14 Y Penxe, 13 L Malan, 12 A Esterhuizen (captain), 11 M Mapimpi, 10 J Hendrikse (J Smith 69), 9 G Williams (B Davids 64), 8 N Hatton, 7 V Tshituka, 6 P Buthelezi (J Potgieter 59), 5 E van Heerden, 4 J Jenkins (C Rahl 63), 3 H Jacobs (V Koch 63), 2 F Mbatha (E Swart 53), 1 P Ganyane (O Nche 63).
15 M Haley (D Kelly 53), 14 C Nash, 13 T Farrell, 12 A Nankivell, 11 S Daly, 10 JJ Hanrahan (captain), 9 E Coughlan (P Patterson 53), 8 G Coombes, 7 J Hodnett, 6 S Edogbo (F Wycherley 53), 5 T Ahern, 4 J Kleyn (E Edogbo 54), 3 M Ala’alatoa (J Ryan 53), 2 D Barron (L Barron 53), 1 M Milne (J Wycherley 53).
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