The following is the player ratings for the game on SaturdayL-
"The Sharks beat the Hurricanes 27-9 in a bit of a strange match in Durban on Saturday. Despite what was ultimately a very convincing margin of victory, the result was by no means secure until Lwazi Mvovo’s 65th minute intercept try.
Fans were left to scratch their heads a little after the match, trying to work out exactly what we’d just witnessed. There was little doubt that the Canes provided far sterner opposition than the Bulls had in round 1, but the feeling was that having so dominated the forward contest in the first half, it was rather disappointing that the Sharks didn’t manage to score four tries. We’ll again rate the team at somewhere around 7/10 this week, acknowledging the fact that they comprehensively beat a good Hurricanes outfit without conceding any tries.
Here are the individual ratings. If you disagree with them, of course, you can always download the new Vodacom Super Rugby Stats App and use those numbers to prove your point. You can find it in both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, or find more details about it here.
1) Beast Mtawarira. A superb game from Beast, who was imperious at scrum time and also put in massive work on defence. The Sharks made little progress on the pick-and-drive, but Tendai proved himself a willing contributor in this facet all the same. 8/10
2) Bismarck du Plessis. Another fantastic performance from the hooker whose work in the primary phases is without equal. Bismarck’s play as captain has become far less individualistic and the team is stronger as a result. 8/10
3) Jannie du Plessis. You simply cannot ask more of a tighthead prop than the number Jannie did on opposite number Franks at scrum time. The fact that he put in some great hits too is just gravy. 8/10
4) Anton Bresler. Worked incredibly hard in the tight phases as always and was part of a strong forward effort in the first half. With so many other ball carriers in the pack, it’s inevitable that players like Bresler end up doing a lot of the donkey work, which often goes unseen (but not unappreciated). 7/10
5) Pieter-Steph du Toit. Work rate, particularly on defence, is exemplary and is growing in stature as a lineout tactician, with this set piece again operating flawlessly. Not quite as effective with ball in hand this week. 7/10
6) Marcell Coetzee. Another strong game on defence, but was less effective as a ground player this week as Canes man Jack Lam adapted better to the referee and won the individual contest. 7/10
7) Willem Alberts. The Bone Collector had a far stronger game this week; not only did he score a good try, but he was instrumental in so many of the big hits in the first half that ensured no momentum for the Canes. 8/10
8) Ryan Kankowski. A storming first half performance from Hoff, only to fall away a little in the second period. Reveled behind a dominant scrum and made plenty of ground with ball in hand. 7/10
9) Cobus Reinach. Showed plenty of x-factor and created problems for the Canes defence early on; however, some poor execution and option-taking conspired to rob the Sharks of attacking momentum at times. Can’t ignore the fact that opposite number TJ Perenara enjoyed quite so much free reign around the fringes either. 6/10
10) Patrick Lambie. Last week we docked a point for inconsistent goal-kicking despite inspired general play; this week, it’s the other way around. Pat’s post-kicking was superb this time around, but we felt that his general game control was lacking and that his line-kicking, in particular, lacked accuracy. 6/10
11) Lwazi Mvovo. A good game from Lwazi, whose work rate continue to improve. Made lots of progress with ball in hand and scored a great individual try, but perhaps also cost a few points by failing to get the last pass away. 7/10
12) Frans Steyn. Did huge work on defence, so often covering huge ground to snuff out Canes attacking moves with a big cover tackle. Perhaps needed to show a little more variation with ball in hand, since Jordaan was starved of possession outside him this week. 6/10
13) Paul Jordaan. Little opportunity to do anything other than defend this time around, which is rather disappointing given the early promise he showed with ball in hand. Tackles above his weight, though and was a vital cog in the defensive machine. 6/10
14) Odwa Ndungane.Really had little to do on a day when the play all went the other way. Made his tackles count, but looked rather pedestrian on his few runs with the ball. 6/10
15) SP Marais. A very good game from the fullback, who had plenty of work to do defensively and was always equal to the task. Not a huge amount to show for his attacking exploits, but showed great willingness and sparked as much as he could on the day. 8/10
The following comments should to my mind be borne in mind - taking into account the sepcfic comments of Whute on certain issues:-
Alberts
Two points should be deducted from Alberts because of the penalty he gave away virtually in front of the posts – bringing the Canes within a converted try from the Sharks. Alberts may be reasonable in aspects of loosie play – but he is rather immobile and not helping at all in breakdown ball protection and recovery. H also have a very low tackle count in games.
Steyn
Was amongst the players who got the lowest rating of 6/10 - Saffex please note that one. One of the aspects which White raised in an interview after the game relates to passing of the ball and it is highly probable that Steyn and some of the loosies got gilled for that one after the game.
I think we shall see a different ball game against the Lions in two weeks time.
