The Sharks back-up brigade produced the final quarter of the match to end up losing 24-12 against Connacht in their United Rugby Championship (URC) game at the Sportsgrounds in Galway on Saturday night.
In a poor first 56 minutes, the young Sharks looked to be going down the barrel of a heavy defeat with Connacht leading 24-0 after running in four tries, but some strong performances from substitutes Lionel Cronje, Grant Williams and Kerron van Vuuren inspired them. . fight back.
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The match started very scrappy from both sides, with several mistakes leading to an almost scoreless first quarter.
But at 20Th minute Connacht opened the scoring from the lineout deep in the Sharks 22m, with them setting the maul and rumbling through to flank Conor Oliver point down, while flyhalf Jack Carty hit the post with the conversion to leave the score 5-0.
Four minutes later, the hosts went in again as a chip from Carty was well delivered by outside center Tom Farrell, with him slotting in from 22m, drawing the last defender and putting his center partner Cathal Forde under the posts for the converted score.
Connacht were now in the ascendancy and they continued to pressure the Sharks through the rest of the half, but it took until the halftime whistle for them to go through again.
Attacking from the lineout, they worked the ball through the hands, with fullback Tiernan O’Halloran taking the ball on the loop and running untouched, with substitute Carty giving them a 19-0 lead at the break.
a strong start
The visitors started well in the second half which saw Connacht under the pump, which led to Shane Delahunt being yellow carded for bringing down the Sharks maul.
Despite managing to get close several times, the Sharks could not make extra people count as the home side held out.
At 55Th minute Connacht then got a bonus point try as a clearance attempt from flyhalf Nevaldo Fleurs was powered down by Forde, with him regathering and running in the second, to put them ahead 24-0.
The Sharks then finally managed to respond in the 61stSt minutes when they attacked from a couple of taps and moved in Connacht 22m, with the center Rohan Janse van Rensburg receiving the ball and pumping his legs through intercepting efforts and passing, with the replacement back Lionel Cronje nailing the conversion.
Six minutes later, the Sharks thought they had reduced the deficit to 10 points after Kerron van Vuuren’s hook hit a kick and the ball was deflected back into the corner.
But after Cronje has been converted in the ref asked to check the potential offside during the power down, he was taken up, leading to the score chalked off.
The Sharks finally got their second try in the 79thTh minute when they attacked to the Connacht 22m, took right to the line, where the replacement prop Dian Bleuler picked up and drove over for an unconverted try making it 24-12.
But it proved too late for them to try and get into the broken few bonus points as time ran out and Connacht cleared in a touch to end the match.
Goal scorer
Connacht: Tries – Conor Oliver, Cathal Forde (2), Tiernan O’Halloran; Conversion – Jack Carty (2)
Shark: Try – Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Dian Bleuler; Conversion – Lionel Cronje