Winger Rieko Ioane cracked a tiring Sharks defense in the 64th minute for a try that clinched the Blues’ 23-18 come-from-behind win in Super Rugby yesterday.
The Sharks had led from the ninth minute, when captain Tendai Mtawarira scored their opening try, until the 64th minute, when Ioane burst between Mtawarira and hooker Franco Marais and dashed 30m to the tryline.
Outstanding defense had kept the Sharks in front during that 55-minute period, but as the high pace of the game and toll of travel began to tell, the Sharks started to slip off tackles and make handling errors.
Photo: AFP
Ioane capitalized, scoring the try that leveled the match at 18-18 and allowing flyhalf Ihaia West to nudge the Blues ahead with the conversion. West also added a penalty on the tick of fulltime.
The first half was frenetic and featured a bombardment of kicks from both sides, but mostly from the Durban-based Sharks, who detected a weakness under the high ball among the Blues back three.
Mtawarira’s try stemmed from one such kick that was misjudged by Ioane. Flyhalf Joe Pietersen reclaimed the ball for the Sharks, setting up a ruck close to the Blues’ line for Mtawarira to barge over.
That gave the Sharks a 5-3 lead after a West penalty.
Pietersen kicked two penalties to extend the lead to 11-3 before George Moala — on the field for only two minutes as an injury replacement for Rene Ranger — scored for the Blues to send the teams to halftime at 11-10.
The Sharks seemed to have struck a vital blow when center Paul Jordaan scored a brilliant try in the first minute of the second spell, extending their lead to 18-10, but it was from that point that they started to tire.
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