URC result: Sharks snatch win at Edinburgh despite mistakes from returning Springboks

The Sharks succeeded where the Lions and Bulls failed over the previous two weeks, snatching an 18–17 win against Edinburgh at the Hive Stadium in Scotland on Friday.

The United Rugby Championship (URC) match followed Edinburgh’s victory over the Lions and Bulls in the Challenge Cup round of 16 and quarter-final, respectively. Edinburgh’s South African coach Sean Everitt joked the three matches could be called the ‘Biltong Series‘.

The Sharks took the game seriously, naming 12 Springboks in the starting XV. But a few Springboks returning to the side from injury had very poor performances and almost cost them the match.

Yellow cards and mistakes galore

Eben Etzebeth returned to captain the side while Aphelele Fassi started at fullback – both not having played since December. Lukhanyo Am and Grant Williams had also battled injury though not as extensively as the first two.

Am and Etzebeth received yellow cards, Am for offside and Etzebeth for his involvement in a scuffle. These led to points for Edinburgh.

Fassi struggled greatly in the match, once kicking the ball out on the full, once retreating into the 22 before trying to clear and the worst mistake came in the second half when he failed to pick a ball up off the ground just metres from the Sharks try line, leading to Edinburgh securing possession and almost scoring.

He appeared to hurt his ankle again and limped off in the second half.

The result was that the Sharks came off second best in the kicking game, an area they are normally so reliant on.

Williams had a decent game after coming on in the second half.

Sharks struggle in Edinburgh

The Sharks opened scoring with a penalty kick in the fourth minute, but it was cancelled out by a beautiful try from Edinburgh centre James Lang. He dove past a defender to score on the sideline in the 13th minute.

Jamie Ritchie earned Edinburgh’s second try, on the same sideline, in the 28th minute. Ross Thompson missed his second conversion. The score remained unchanged until the Sharks took another penalty kick right before half-time, making the score 10–6 to the hosts at the break.

The Sharks wasted no time coming back into the game in the second half, Am breaking the line and passing to Fassi for the score. Hendrikse converted to turn it into a three-point lead.

When Am and Etzebeth were off for yellow cards, Edinburgh made their numerical superiority count. Ewan Ashman scored a converted try to make it 17–13 after 48 minutes.

The score remained that way until the final minutes. Edinburgh appeared to score a try in the the 77th minute that would have put them beyong the reach of the Sharks, but it was held up by Ethan Hooker and Makazole Mapimpi.

It all came down to the wire and as momentum shifted to the Sharks, the ball was fed wide to Mapimpi on attack and he scored after the hooter sounded to snatch the win.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions – Jordan Hendrikse 1/1, Siya Masuku 0/1. Penalties – Hendrikse 2/5.

Edinburgh: Tries – James Lang, Jamie Ritchie, Ewan Ashman. Conversions – Ross Thompson 1/3.