The Sharks overcame a 12-point deficit early in the second half by running in three tries to record a 30-28 win over the Queensland Reds in their Super 14 clash on Saturday.
The home side fought back through clever use of the rolling maul after flyhalf Quade Cooper had extended the Reds’ 14-9 halftime lead when he scythed through the home side’s defense from just outside the Sharks’ 22m line.
Cooper offloaded to outside center Will Chambers who dotted down under the posts for his second try with Cooper adding the extra two points.
The Sharks’ Odwa Ndungane responded with a try and the home side took the lead in the 56th minute when Jacques Botes was shoved over the line and Ruan Pienaar scored the conversion.
Pienaar ended the match with 15 points courtesy of three penalties and three conversions.
With 14 minutes left in the contest the hosts stretched their lead to nine points when wing JP Pietersen was on hand to score under posts.
But the visitors struck back almost immediately as Cooper was responsible for another scoring pass when the pivot found replacement prop Greg Homes unmarked with the front rower scoring in the left-hand corner for the Reds’ fourth try.
“We were a bit too loose in the first half,” said Sharks captain John Smit, who was celebrating his 32nd birthday. “But we came together and realized we had to make a change of tactics and tighten things up.”
“We got a few dividends from that and I am just happy with the boys reacting,” Smit said.
Pienaar had opened the scoring with a penalty in the fourth minute as the home side made the early running.
The Reds struck back in the 11th minute when Cooper jinked his way over for a try he converted himself.
The home side fought their way back into the contest and two penalties from Pienaar took the Sharks into a two-point lead in the 23rd minute.
The two sides settled into a midfield battle, with the Reds dominating possession, before the Australian side struck two minutes before the interval when Chambers took a pass from Cooper and barrelled his way over for a converted try.
“The Sharks played better across the 80 minutes,” Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie said. “We scored four tries but I never felt like we were in control of the game.”
“I’m proud of the boys,” Sharks coach John Plumtree said. “It was a long trip back from New Zealand and at 21-9 down, we were staring down the barrel. But the way the forwards took over in the game was great.”
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS