Sharks player ratings: Returning Springbok the ‘shining light’ as ‘woeful’ defence torn to shreds by Damian Penaud ‘insanity’
Sharks scrum-half Grant Williams and an insert of Damian Penaud.
Following Bordeaux’s comprehensive 66-12 victory over the Sharks, here is how we rated John Plumtree’s team in defeat.
Sharks players ratings v Bordeaux
15 Hakeem Kunene: Hero to zero real quick as the young full-back scored a try after being thrown into the starting XV pre-kick-off but his game was ended just five minutes later as he shot up to deny a threatening attack. However, he failed as Damian Penaud scored his first try while Kunene was knocked out and yellow-carded for his tackle attempted, ending his match and swinging momentum to Bordeaux after the Sharks’ fine start. 3
14 Yaw Penxe: Gifted Penaud a try when he attempted to keep the ball alive, a blunder akin to Eduan Keyter’s against Leicester Tigers. It was a telling moment in the match as the Sharks had just gone down a man and allowed Bordeaux the chance to level the scores. Simply cannot gift players like Penuad – who tore the Sharks to shreds, scoring SIX TRIES – a chance like that while his backfield coverage was woeful at times. 3
13 Jurenzo Julius: Flashes of brilliance from the rising star who proved to be incredibly elusive with the ball in hand. A vibrant first half but like many of his teammates, he was unable to impose much in the second as the hosts took control of the fixture. There is much hype around the ‘Boogeyman’ and it’s easy to see why, he is a bright talent. 7
12 Francois Venter: Pretty much what you’d expect from the experienced midfielder. Solid defensively, strong with his carries and a sprinkle of magic, this time it was a great offload in the build-up to Siya Masuku’s try. 4
11 Ethan Hooker: A few bright moments but struggled to contain the insanity of Penaud. The Sharks were caught out a few times in the back-field with their back three failing to cover Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert’s kicks; Hooker and Penxe have to take responsibility for that. Still some bright moments on the other side of the ball. He is more comfortable in the centres and while he has impressed out wide, Penaud burned him several times and comfortably won their personal battle. 3
10 Siya Masuku: Scored the opening try and had a strong first half but as the game went on, his performance deteriorated. A handful of unkind and erratic passes killed off promising attacks while he was barely a turnstile on defence on a handful of occasions. 5
9 Grant Williams: He wasted no time in getting back to his excellent pre-injury form. His service was rapid, his kicks were excellent as he tried his utmost to keep the Sharks in the match. Had a few nice touches on the wing too. The shining light in the Sharks’ crushing defeat. 7
The pack
8 Siya Kolisi (c): The result was hardly his doing as the Springboks captain defended manfully but had precious few opportunities with the ball in hand. 5
7 Emmanuel Tshituka: A few poor passes, a handful of missed tackles and struggled to gain much ground with ball in hand. He has had far better outings than today but overall, the Sharks lost the battle up front. 4
6 Phepsi Buthelezi: One of the more successful forward ball carriers for the Durbanites. A real workhorse shift all round but his efforts were in vain. 5
5 Jason Jenkins: A quiet game overall from the one-cap Springboks lock. He is one of those players whose work can over be overlooked but the core roles of tackling and carries were not up to his usual standard. His work at the lineout was decent. 4
4 Corne Rahl: A solid outing before he was forced off the pitch through injury. Another youngster tipped for a bright future and he threw his weight around against a mighty Bordeaux pack well for 45 minutes. 6
3 Trevor Nyakane: Like his fellow front-rowers, he struggled against the Bordeaux pack with the mighty Jefferson Poirot rolling back the years with a dominant effort. The Springboks prop did land a few good shots on defence and carried relatively well though. 5
2 Bongi Mbonambi: Bordeaux have an excellent lineout defence but the Boks hooker’s darts were largely on point to find his jumper despite the pressure. He was not able to turn the tide in the scrums though as the Sharks crumbled. Mbonambi was not at fault for the backs being torn to shreds by the Bordeaux speedsters. 6
1 Ntuthuko Mchunu: Carlü Sadie would have scrummaged against the Springboks loosehead so many times during his time at the Sharks and the Bordeaux star really got the better of his ex-teammate. Mchunu was hammered at the set-piece as Yannick Bru’s pack clearly dominated with so much purchase on Mchunu’s side of the scrum. 3
Replacements: A tough one for the bench as many of those coming on were doing so as injury replacements more than to provide an impact. The scrum fared slightly better with the replacements while Jaden Hendrikse had good touches out of his usual position as did Lukhanyo Am considering that he was not expected to play today. However, Bordeaux comfortably got more from their bench. 3
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