The Sharks hammer Western Province to win the Currie Cup 2010
The Natal Sharks won their second Currie Cup title in three years after outplaying the much favoured Western Province in front of a packed house at Kingspark in Durban on Saturday. The 30-10 victory came as much from commitment as it did from a solid team display all round.
Massive defence was a symbol of the Sharks play as they smashed whatever Province threw at them, blowing them away in the first half and forcing them into uncharacteristic errors later in the game. "As brutal, as intense as any top tier Test match I have refereed. The defensive hits going in were huge – the commitment was incredible," said referee Craig Joubert.
Young flyhalf Patrick Lambie showed how he’s grown as a player as he again proved to be a match winner with his two tries and 25 point tally. The twenty year old was named Man of the Match, and later picked in the Springbok touring squad.
"Patrick has huge character. He took a few shifts mentally and I believe he has matured as a player. He is definitely a man for the future," said coach John Plumtree.
Andries Strauss in the midfield was another huge factor for the Sharks as the unsung hero smashed anything in sight. He was playing his last game for the province, and you could see it in the way he played which clearly rubbed off on the men around him.
"Before kick-off, when the players were in a circle he challenged the team by asking them what kind of performance they would produce if it was their last game for the Sharks (and to join him in that level of commitment)," Plumtree added.
Province weren’t without chances though, as they opted for the line rather than kick the points on offer in the second half. Those missed opportunities meant they were chasing the game, which lead to further pressure and errors. Captain Schalk Burger tried in vain, but couldn’t do enough to get his side back into it against a motivated home team.
"When some ex-Bok coaches and some CEOs of banks back WP to win, it gives you that extra motivation to add to the strong internal motivation which starts from when you are kids and you play Currie Cup finals in your backyard," said captain Stefan Terblanche.
The youngsters from the Sharks stood up to be counted as Lambie, Keegan Daniel, Lwazi Mvovo, and Willem Alberts were all rewarded with a place on the Springbok end of year tour. Burger, Ricky Januarie, and Juan de Jongh have all been ruled out with injury.
Time: 07:00
Massive defence was a symbol of the Sharks play as they smashed whatever Province threw at them, blowing them away in the first half and forcing them into uncharacteristic errors later in the game. "As brutal, as intense as any top tier Test match I have refereed. The defensive hits going in were huge – the commitment was incredible," said referee Craig Joubert.
Young flyhalf Patrick Lambie showed how he’s grown as a player as he again proved to be a match winner with his two tries and 25 point tally. The twenty year old was named Man of the Match, and later picked in the Springbok touring squad.
"Patrick has huge character. He took a few shifts mentally and I believe he has matured as a player. He is definitely a man for the future," said coach John Plumtree.
Andries Strauss in the midfield was another huge factor for the Sharks as the unsung hero smashed anything in sight. He was playing his last game for the province, and you could see it in the way he played which clearly rubbed off on the men around him.
"Before kick-off, when the players were in a circle he challenged the team by asking them what kind of performance they would produce if it was their last game for the Sharks (and to join him in that level of commitment)," Plumtree added.
Province weren’t without chances though, as they opted for the line rather than kick the points on offer in the second half. Those missed opportunities meant they were chasing the game, which lead to further pressure and errors. Captain Schalk Burger tried in vain, but couldn’t do enough to get his side back into it against a motivated home team.
"When some ex-Bok coaches and some CEOs of banks back WP to win, it gives you that extra motivation to add to the strong internal motivation which starts from when you are kids and you play Currie Cup finals in your backyard," said captain Stefan Terblanche.
The youngsters from the Sharks stood up to be counted as Lambie, Keegan Daniel, Lwazi Mvovo, and Willem Alberts were all rewarded with a place on the Springbok end of year tour. Burger, Ricky Januarie, and Juan de Jongh have all been ruled out with injury.
Time: 07:00
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28 Comments:
I IS FRIST
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 5:53 pm
french first and second
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 5:54 pm
et un et deux et trois zero vive la france
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 5:54 pm
great game by the way
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 5:54 pm
Can't wait for the end of year tours to start! SA, NZ & Aus clean sweep this November!
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 6:06 pm
looks like a cracking game! you don't often see burger manhandled like that.
By David, at November 01, 2010 6:09 pm
Let's hope Pat Lambie can take that form on Tour! Go Bokke!!!
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 6:11 pm
Although i've seen that number 10 before, i'm sorry i can't remember his name. He looks deceptively strong for a small guy!
(sorry to double post!)
By David, at November 01, 2010 6:11 pm
David, if you read above you'll see his name
Excellent game and fantastic atmosphere!
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 6:35 pm
I am french and I didn't see the game. A friend told me that Schalk Burger has been very poor in this game... Is it true? And I don't understand the WP's poor attitude. Many people in France saw a WP's victory before the game...
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 7:27 pm
Uh Oh, what are we seeing here? Is it the beginnings of a purge? Is De Villiers going the way of Australia with tons of fresh new blood, and is it too late for the RWC?
By EARugbyFan, at November 01, 2010 7:36 pm
De Waal is a very very very poor flyhalf. He is of use for nothing and he is dangerous for his teammates because he nerver attacks the opponent line and he never fix the defencers before making a pass.
I think WP loses the Currie Cup and the S14 because they have a poor scrum (especially in the front row) and a flyhalf who doesn't play rugby. It is damage..
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 7:47 pm
Pat Lambie take bow. A lot of folk were saying he lacked that big match temperament, but 2 tries in a CC final in front of 50000 (double the number at Hong Kong btw, what a waste of time that was!) has put that well and truly to bed. Lets hope he reproduces the same form if he gets on the field in the NH. But who knows, with Divvy in charge he may get to play at prop!
Shame the WP boys couldn't show up to the party, but the Sharks' defence was just all over them like a bad rash. How the Boks keep failing with so much domestic talent is beyond me!!
By Tommo, at November 01, 2010 8:37 pm
^ keep failing?? Mate, they narrowly lost to the number 1 & number 2 side in the world recently. Still ranked third and hold some great titles. That's a failure that most countries would be happy with!! :)
By Benson, at November 01, 2010 8:50 pm
lamby is so mcuh more exciting to watch than gay steyn
By Anonymous, at November 01, 2010 10:38 pm
Schalk Burger played through this match with a broken rib. Tough.
By Anonymous, at November 02, 2010 1:14 am
I would love for Australia to have a competition like this, just phenomenal.
By 2020, at November 02, 2010 1:54 am
great match, great intensity and amazing red caps. What next n sponsor-shop - anyone?
By mise, at November 02, 2010 1:58 am
will Lambie be the James O'Connor of South Africa??
By RUGBY_SH9, at November 02, 2010 3:50 am
Iae tudo bem ?? seu blog é muito legal; bem informativo, eu também tenho um blog eu acho que ta da horinha conheça http://blogdopvsiga.blogspot.com/
tem um post sobre rungby - RUGBY ISSO AINDA VAI SER GRANDE NO BRASIL
valeu flw !!!
By Paulinho, at November 02, 2010 3:51 am
Rugby_SH9... nah, Lambie will probably win a world cup while O'connor won't.
By Anonymous, at November 02, 2010 4:15 am
Tommo said...
50000 (double the number at Hong Kong btw, what a waste of time that was!)
Most people who actually know something about rugby think it was a great contest between #1 and #2 and one of the best test matches of recent times. Great for the game. But you think it was all a waste of time because the crowd wasn't to your satisfaction. I wonder who's right?
By Stuart, at November 02, 2010 4:34 am
Great stuff, I love the Currie Cup, so much hsitory and passion from the supporters, and the rugby is a very, very high standard, always entertaining.
Kudos from Aus
By Jono, at November 02, 2010 4:41 am
Nah Stuart what I meant was that there was no point in playing the game in Hong Kong. The contest was awesome and as a game of rugby it couldn't be bettered. Scheduling it so shamelessly to sell more replica shirts in the far east just backfired, that's all.
And yes I do count losing 5 out of 6 3N games as failing. Especially after we had both S14 finalists and had dominated the world the year before. If you're happy with being third then go support someone else!
By Tommo, at November 02, 2010 6:54 am
Tommo, the point is taken about too many fixtures between Australia and New Zealand, but truth be told, as an Aussie I'm damn glad w egot the Hong Kong test, for obvious reasons.
There are less obvious reasons it is beneficial (besides the financial help it gives to two unions that struggle financially to match the wages in Europe and retain their best players, thereby protecting the doemstic rugby in their country).
It's also a great warm up for the European tour.
There won't be a fourth test ever agin however.
There will be an extra test in Asia (or somewhere else, Denver has been mooted, as has Boston, Abu Dabi and Dubai) and it wills erve as the best of three game for the Bledisloe each year, after Agrentina enter the 3 nations.
By Jono, at November 02, 2010 7:15 am
Fair enough Tommo but I think it's good to make a point of showing the best of the game in different parts of the world. It won't always be a sell-out but it has long term benefits. As far as the HK test goes, a crap crowd and a good game is better than a good crowd and a crap game.
By Stuart, at November 02, 2010 9:45 am
Lambie the new Frans Steyn?
By Anonymous, at November 02, 2010 2:46 pm
Downunder we would love a comp like this mate!cut the Trinations down and end that Super15 before it starts!whats the point in 3 conferences??
By Anonymous, at November 02, 2010 5:30 pm
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