Leinster outgun plucky Sharks in URC encounter in Dublin

The Sharks return home from their three-match URC tour winless, but as counterintuitive as it might sound, their heads will be held high after a fighting performance in Dublin against champions Leinster on Saturday night.

The final score was 31-5, but it was always going to be a thankless task for anyone visiting a Leinster team coming off two losses and strengthened by the return of most of their British and Irish Lions internationals.

By the same token, the Sharks had only a sprinkling of their Springboks back from the Rugby Championship — Ethan Hooker, Makazole Mapimpi and Bongi Mbonambi — but they made a decent fist of the contest, even if the scoreline suggested otherwise.

There was nothing between the sides in the opening ten minutes until Ireland international James Lowe, running down the touchline, cleverly nudged the ball into space where chasing fullback Jamie Osborne gathered and raced to the posts.

There were encouraging attacks from the Durbanites, but most of the questions with ball in hand were being asked by the champions. They came good 22 minutes into the game when a premeditated move off the back of a scrum in the Sharks’ 22 was well executed, with left wing Jimmy O’Brien scything through for the score.

Not long before the half-hour mark, it became a daunting 21-0 when poor ruck defence by flank Phepsi Buthelezi in his team’s 22 saw his opposite number, Josh van der Flier, score.

The Sharks needed a moment of magic to stem the tide and turn it — and, almost inevitably, it came from their Springbok sensation Ethan Hooker, who spectacularly plucked a Harry Byrne pass out of the air and sprinted 50 metres for the score. Unfortunately, Jean Smith could not convert a reasonably easy attempt.

Meanwhile, Edwill van der Merwe pulled off some brilliant takes in the air to underline that he has a future at fullback.

The referee, Craig Evans, hardly helped the Sharks’ cause when a rampaging set scrum was ruled illegal for reasons not even the one-eyed Irish commentators could fathom.

That left the half-time score at 21-5, and the Sharks had a mountain to climb.

They were giving as good as they got in the second half until, ten minutes in, a harsh penalty for an unavoidable head contact by Ruan Dreyer resulted in a kick to the corner and a try for No 8 Max Deegan.

The Sharks fought hard in the middle part of the second half, only to be undone again at a lineout near their line, with replacement prop Gus McCarthy going over unmarked from a well-worked move.

At 31-5, the game was long gone, and the question was whether the Sharks could prevent the floodgates from opening further. That much was managed, and they return to Durban for next week’s home match against Ulster — with Bok giants Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Grant Williams, Ox Nche and Andre Esterhuizen all due to return for the encounter.

Points-scorers

Sharks 5 — Tries: Ethan Hooker.

Leinster 35 — Tries: Jamie Osbourne, Jimmy O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan, Gus McCarthy. Conversions: Harry Byrne (3).