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20-point half-time buffer not enough as Sharks fall to spirited Connacht
By PA
Connacht erased a 20-point half-time deficit to defeat the Hollywoodbets Sharks 36-30 in a topsy-turvy BKT United Rugby Championship clash at Dexcom Stadium.
It took a brilliant second half from Pete Wilkins’ men to open their win account for the season.
Replacement Oisin Dowling’s 70th-minute try was the one that mattered the most.
Trailing to an early Dave Heffernan score, the Sharks took over 20 minutes to reach the opposition 22 but built a 27-7 interval lead.
Andre Esterhuizen powered over twice, Jordan Hendrikse delivered two monster penalties, and Gerbrandt Grobler also crossed late on.
However, Connacht marked prop Denis Buckley’s 250th appearance with a fitting result thanks to further tries from player-of-the-match Heffernan, Cathal Forde, Shane Jennings and Dowling.
The Westerners made the early running, with a Piers O’Conor break preceding hooker Heffernan’s opening maul effort. Josh Ioane nailed the conversion.
The hosts remained on the front foot until former Harlequin Esterhuizen’s hard line off a lineout got the Sharks off the mark. Siya Masuku converted.
Hendrikse, the Currie Cup final’s goal-kicking hero, then split the posts from halfway, before Esterhuizen proved unstoppable again in the 28th minute.
Following a stunning 63-metre strike from Hendrikse to make it 20-7, Grobler scored via a maul for Masuku to convert.
Forde got Connacht firing again with a clever chip kick for Mack Hansen, whose return pass sent the young centre in behind the posts.
Heffernan barged past Tian Meyer for a 50th-minute maul try, and there was only a point in it (27-26) after Jennings intercepted replacement Meyer’s pass to race clear from just outside the Connacht 22.
The momentum was then seized by second-row Dowling, who successfully burrowed over. Forde converted and tagged a penalty to seal the maximum haul. Masuku’s last-minute penalty gave his side a losing bonus point.
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Go to commentsIDK about that, he looked like he’ll be ready quick smart, but he’s no different to Moananu in that respect. From New Plymouth wasn’t he, or Hastings?
Two years of being the third Hooker? Idk he might be OK with that, but I think he’d be a World Cup contender in that time if he had more game time than that. Maybe that will come at the Saders in place of one of those other two?
My idea was anyway, or either way, that the Blues have to sign a new number one hooker soon, and a number two immediately. So whoever finishes the season the best prospect out of the two at the end of NPC!
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