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Cardiff get four-try bonus point by half-time against 14-man Sharks
By PA
Cardiff cruised to victory against the 14-man Sharks as they claimed a 36-14 United Rugby Championship victory in Durban. Sharks flanker Tino Mavesere was sent off after just 20 minutes following a shoulder-led challenge to the head of Cardiff and Wales full-back Cameron Winnett.
The visitors prospered, securing a bonus point by half-time through tries from Alun Lawrence, Ben Donnell, Willis Halaholo, and James Botham, while fly-half Ben Thomas kicked three conversions.
Lock Corne Rahl was the only survivor in the Sharks’ starting line-up following a home defeat against Benetton last time out.
None of the Sharks’ current Springboks contingent were involved before the EPCR Challenge Cup final against Gloucester in London.
Cardiff encountered few problems in claiming a rare five-point maximum on the road, with Thomas adding a second-half penalty before Wales back Mason Grady posted a late try that Thomas converted.
Centre Diego Appollis and replacement Curwin Bosch touched down for the home side, with Bosch and Lionel Cronje each kicking a conversion, but Sharks could have no complaints after being outplayed in all key departments.
Number eight Lawrence collected Cardiff’s opening try after 15 minutes, underlining that the Sharks had a tough task on their hands.
But that degree of difficulty increased sharply after Mavesere was red-carded and Cardiff capitalised immediately.
More good work by their forwards had Sharks’ defence in reverse gear and Donnell was the beneficiary, with Thomas’ conversion opening up a 14-point lead.
Cardiff were then undone by a try from Appollis that Cronje converted, yet they recovered quickly as Halaholo showcased all his power to surge over Sharks’ line before Thomas added another two points.
A bonus point arrived six minutes before the interval through Botham’s score, sending Cardiff in to half-time with a 26-7 advantage.
A Thomas penalty left the Sharks further adrift and Grady crossed for a try eight minutes from time that Thomas converted before Bosch’s 78th-minute consolation.
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Latest Comments
Yes but we don’t want to be anything like the US do we!
I think it works especially in america for those types of days. Of course the general idea is that you spend time together and although watch sport is the exact opposite I’d reckon it would probably be a net positive in the end.
Something that has or should have more meaning is another thing entirely though. Or does the day just not have that much meaning anymore either? Like having a ‘rivalry’ with the other nation you’re celebrating as team mates.. well hello? Maybe it’s a good day for the All Blacks v Kangaroos game? Transtasman version of the black clash?
Go to commentsYou’re welcome and sorry for the late reply.
I think so. More money is always good and compared to other T2 Federations, although things aren’t perfect, the Romanian Rugby Federation did a good job managing it’s budget.
I think I saw T2Rugby tweeting that out of T2 nations funding around half goes to the 3 Pacific Islands which might be a bit of a waste considering how much coruption there is inside those Federations.
It was a major blow for the local championship and the level of the local competition.
This was fixed in 2011 when the Superliga was created - a professional league with 8 teams. I think it had 10 in it’s peak. Having a pro league for a T2 nation is really good but now the issue is there are only 6 teams which means you don’t have a lot of matches during a season. It would’ve been great if there would be again 8 or 10 teams but I don’t see that happening any time soon.
However, for the national side, this exodus was really good. Even now we get benefits from it, although we don’t have as many players abroad, because kids of those players are playing at a higher intensity level in France - ex. Gontineac, Mitu.
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