Cell C Sharks derailed in Christchurch

Jul 27 • General News, Super Rugby • 1741 Views • Comments Off on Cell C Sharks derailed in Christchurch

The 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season came to an abrupt halt for the Cell C Sharks on Saturday morning when they were beaten by 38-6 by the Crusaders in the first semi-final.

The Durbanites would be the first to admit that they were not at their best and unfortunately their opponents, the most successful team in the history of Vodacom Super Rugby, played some of their finest rugby of the season.

The Crusaders will now travel to Sydney to face the Waratahs in the final after the table-toppers from New South Wales were too strong for the Brumbies and won the second semi-final, winning by 26-8.

From a South African perspective, the top points’ scorer for 2014 was the Lions’ Marnitz Boshoff, who finished his debut season with 189 points. He was followed by Frans Steyn of the Cell C Sharks (164), Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Vodacom Bulls, 144) and Johan Goosen (Toyota Cheetahs, 143).

Three players shared the top spot for most tries during 2014 by a South African – Cobus Reinach (Cell C Sharks), Cornal Hendricks (Toyota Cheetahs) and Lionel Mapoe (Lions), all of whom crossed for six five-pointers.

2014 Vodacom Super Rugby Final

Waratah v Crusaders

Date: Saturday 2 August 2014

SA time: 11h40

Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Crusaders 38 (16) Cell C Sharks 6 (6)

Experience of playoff matches, last weekends’ bye and the travel factor all played a part in the Cell C Sharks’ defeat at the hand of the Crusaders in the first Vodacom Super Rugby semi-final in Christchurch on Saturday morning.

The New Zealanders were in a rampant mood as they ran in four second-half tries to trump the Cell C Sharks by 38-6. The Crusaders also scored on try before the break.

And although all the factors mentioned earlier played a role, the Cell C Sharks would still have been very disappointed with their execution on the day.

Despite the Cell C Sharks’ struggles early in the match, they were not out of it by the break, with the Crusaders leading by 16-6 with their captain, Kieran Read, scoring the only try of the first half. And it could’ve been 16-9 had Pat Lambie not missed his third penalty attempt moments before the end of the half.

The visitors’ normally sound kicking game was out of sync and that allowed the Crusaders to control the territorial game.

Apart from not executing their own kicks well enough, the KwaZulu-Natalians also struggled to with the home team’s kicking game, which often resulted in having to scramble back on defence after not being able to control the ball in their own half of the field.

Their set piece play wasn’t much better. The Cell C Sharks’ lineout was also put under immense pressure by the Crusaders and although they scrummed well, the visitors could not get the same kind of ascendancy as they did last weekend against the Highlanders in this facet of play.

As a result, they were under constant pressure. Their discipline held firm, but being on the back foot for most of the match saw the Cell C Sharks commit a slew of unnecessary errors with ball in hand and on defence, which simply meant the pressure never ceased.

Three of the Crusaders’ tries, by Willi Heinz, Johnny McNicholl and Matt Todd, were scored in the final 15 minutes, when the result was basically done and dusted.

Scorers:

Crusaders – Tries: Kieran Read, Nemani Nodolo, Willi Heinz, Johnny McNicholl, Matt Todd. Conversions: Dan Carter (2). Penalty goals: Carter (3).

Cell C Sharks – Penalty goals: Pat Lambie (2).

Other result – Semi-finals:

Waratahs 26 (11) Brumbies 8 (8) (Sydney)

Waratahs – Tries: Kurtley Beale, Alofa Alofa, Bernard Foley. Conversion: Foley. Penalty goals: Foley (3).

Brumbies – Try: Henry Speight. Penalty goal: Christian Lealiifano.

Final logs – after Round 19:

Combined Log

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BPts	Pts
1	Waratahs (Aus winner)	16	12	0	4	481	272	209	10	58
2	Crusaders (NZ winner)	16	11	0	5	445	322	123	7	51
3	Cell C Sharks (SA winner)	16	11	0	5	406	293	113	6	50
4	Brumbies (Wild card)	16	10	0	6	412	378	34	5	45
5	Chiefs (Wild card)	16	8	2	6	384	378	6	8	44
6	Highlanders (Wild card)	16	8	0	8	401	442	-41	10	42
7	Hurricanes	16	8	0	8	439	374	65	9	41
8	Western Force	16	9	0	7	343	393	-50	4	40
9	Vodacom Bulls	16	7	1	8	365	335	30	8	38
10	Blues	16	7	0	9	419	395	24	9	37
11	DHL Stormers	16	7	0	9	290	326	-36	4	32
12	Lions	16	7	0	9	367	413	-46	3	31
13	Reds	16	5	0	11	374	493	-119	8	28
14	Toyota Cheetahs	16	4	1	11	372	527	-155	6	24
15	Melbourne Rebels	16	4	0	12	303	460	-157	5	21

South African Conference

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BPts	Pts
1	Cell C Sharks	16	11	0	5	406	293	113	6	50
2	Vodacom Bulls	16	7	1	8	365	335	30	8	38
3	DHL Stormers	16	7	0	9	290	326	-36	4	32
4	Lions	16	7	0	9	367	413	-46	3	31
5	Toyota Cheetahs	16	4	1	11	372	527	-155	6	24

Australian Conference

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BPts	Pts
1	Waratahs	16	12	0	4	481	272	209	10	58
2	Brumbies	16	10	0	6	412	378	34	5	45
3	Western Force	16	9	0	7	343	393	-50	4	40
4	Reds	16	5	0	11	374	493	-119	8	28
5	Melbourne Rebels	16	4	0	12	303	460	-157	5	21

New Zealand Conference

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BPts	Pts
1	Crusaders	16	11	0	5	445	322	123	7	51
2	Chiefs	16	8	2	6	384	378	6	8	44
3	Highlanders	16	8	0	8	401	442	-41	10	42
4	Hurricanes	16	8	0	8	439	374	65	9	41
5	Blues	16	7	0	9	419	395	24	9	37

Top scorers – South African teams:

(Players with more than 20 points)

PLAYER	TEAM	T	C	P	D	PTS
Marnitz Boshoff	Lions	0	18	43	8	189
Frans Steyn	Cell C Sharks	0	16	43	1	164
Jacques-Louis Potgieter	Vodacom Bulls	1	14	34	3	144
Johan Goosen	Toyota Cheetahs	1	21	30	2	143
Handre Pollard	Vodacom Bulls	1	10	16	1	76
Patrick Lambie	Cell C Sharks	1	4	15	0	58
Kurt Coleman	DHL Stormers	1	8	10	0	51
Elgar Watts	Toyota Cheetahs	1	10	8	0	49
Peter Grant	DHL Stormers	0	10	9	0	47
Demetri Catrakilis	DHL Stormers	0	4	12	0	44
Tim Swiel	Cell C Sharks	0	4	10	0	38
Cobus Reinach	Cell C Sharks	6	0	0	0	30
Cornal Hendricks	Toyota Cheetahs	6	0	0	0	30
Lionel Mapoe	Lions	6	0	0	0	30
Elton Jantjies	Lions	1	7	3	0	28
Willie Le Roux	Toyota Cheetahs	5	0	0	0	25
Fred Zeilinga	Cell C Sharks	0	2	7	0	25
Boom Prinsloo	Toyota Cheetahs	4	0	0	0	20
Courtnall Skosan	Lions	4	0	0	0	20
Damian de Allende	DHL Stormers	4	0	0	0	20
Jono Ross	Vodacom Bulls	4	0	0	0	20
Nizaam Carr	DHL Stormers	4	0	0	0	20