Ulster maul their way to a valuable URC win in South Africa
Ulster bounced back from their defeat to Glasgow to register a 31-24 victory over the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium that tightens their grip on third place in the United Rugby Championship. Two maul tries laid the foundations for the win with replacement hooker Tom Stewart claiming both, while Stewart Moore and Harry Sheridan crossed in the second half to secure a maximum five-point haul.
Just 71 seconds were on the clock when scrum-half Grant Williams took advantage of successive defensive lapses to accelerate over the line as part of an impressive start by the Sharks. A period of Ulster dominance followed, however, with a John Cooney penalty followed by a breakthrough at the lineout that saw Stewart touch down.
The Sharks regained the initiative when wing Thaakir Abrahams raced on to a chip ahead, evading a despairing tackle by Craig Gilroy in the process. For all their instinctive back play, the Durban-based province were proving fallible at the maul and Ulster helped themselves to a second try with Stewart once again providing the finishing touch.
Aaron Sexton was almost over in the left corner but he was bundled into touch at the last possible moment and three minutes into the second half the visitors extended their lead through Moore.
It was an opportunistic score by the Ulster inside centre who, having seen Williams roll the ball over his own whitewash as the Sharks were about to clear their line, came around the side of the ruck and touched down.
Prop Ntuthuko Mchunu went over from close range after a series of forward carries to slash the deficit to five points, but lock Sheridan showed tremendous strength to cross despite the attention of several defenders, restoring some breathing space.
The Sharks refused to throw in the towel and when Werner Kok broke from deep inside his own half, full-back Boeta Chamberlain was on hand to finish. Despite heavy pressure in the last 10 minutes, they were unable to unpick the visiting defence again.
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It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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