The Sharks crowned Absa Currie Cup Champions
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The Sharks are the Absa Currie Cup champions for 2010 after they defeated Vodacom Western Province 30-10 at The Absa Stadium Durban on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Patrick Lambie, who celebrated his inclusion to the Springbok End- of-Year touring squad after the final, was the star performer for the hosts after scoring 25 points in this game. He added a brace of tries and also kicked three conversions and three penalties.
The Durban side entertained the 52 000 sellout crowd with their superb and entertaining attacking brand of rugby during the first half and were rewarded with two tries which were scored by Absa Currie Cup Man of the Match Lambie and scrumhalf Charl McLeod.
In the second half, and with Vodacom Western Province chasing the game at 23-10, The Sharks then shifted gear and backed up their flamboyant approach during the first 40 minutes with a resolute defensive effort which kept their Cape opponents scoreless in the second half.
The Sharks success in the final was built around their physical forwards who dominated the collisions and the breakdown. The physicality of the likes of Willem Alberts, Keegan Daniel and Bismarck du Plessis were instrumental in allowing the hosts momentum while their efforts were backed up by a masterful performance of their 20-year-old pivot Lambie.
Centre Andries Strauss playing in his final game for the Durban side, along with Alberts and Du Plessis were then some of the stars for the hosts on defence. Province boasted the majority of the second half’s possession, but were unable to break the brave defensive systems of the Durban side.
Vodacom Western Province’s only points’ were scored in the first half.
Captain Schalk Burger powered his way over The Sharks try line shortly before the break. His five-pointer was converted by pivot Willem de Waal who also added a penalty during the opening minutes of the game.
De Waal ended the season as the competition’s leading points’ scorer with 220. Lambie ended in second place with 205.
“The way we played as a team was amazing,” said The Sharks coach John Plumtree.
“But the big thing here is that it doesn’t matter which individuals you have, this was a team effort. Nobody gave us a chance in the build up to this game. The experts were writing us off, and that motivated us. Then the crowd got behind us and really helped us get the win.
“We had to hang on defensively and I think the crowd helped us tremendously along the way. This is possibly one of our best team efforts if you consider that we just beat two Vodacom Super 14 finalists to get this trophy. That can’t be underestimated.”
The victory for the hosts ensured that they maintained their undefeated run at home this season. The hosts recorded eight home wins this season which included a semi-final victory over the Vodacom Blue Bulls (16-12), Platinum Leopards (63-6), Vodacom Free State Cheetahs (30-16), GWK Griquas (48-30), Vodacom Western Province (27-16), Xerox Lions (48-19), Vodacom Blue Bulls (34-28) and the Barloworld Toyota Pumas (27-17).
The defeat for Vodacom Western Province was their fourth loss on the road during this season’s competition. They conceded defeats against the Vodacom Blue Bulls (36-32) in Pretoria, Xerox Lions (46-28) in Johannesburg and went down to The Sharks (27-16) in Durban during their league fixture in August.
“I am very disappointed with the loss but we must give credit to The Sharks,” said Vodacom WP coach Allister Coetzee.
“We did not manage to keep enough ball in hand, we made lots of mistakes and that really cost us. We found ourselves 23-3 down after the first 17 minutes; that was tough and then our mistakes were punished.
“We knew that The Sharks were a team that liked to counter-attack, so we refrained from kicking on their back three. But we gave away too many turnovers and they were good at taking advantage of those opportunities.”
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