The Cell C Sharks kicked off the weekend’s United Rugby Championship action against Benetton and secured a 43-33 bonus-point win in Durban on Friday evening.
Benetton had a perfect start to the match, scoring two quick tries to lead 14-00 after just 7 minutes of play. The Cell C Sharks clawed their way back into the game using the dominance of their pack of forwards to bully the visitors. In a brilliant fightback, the Cell C Sharks scored two tries during the remainder of the first half on the back of the powerplay from their forward pack. The match was still balanced on a knife's edge as the two teams go into the halftime break level at 14-14, however, the Cell C Sharks' pack of forwards were in full control.
The second half "degraded" to an all-out attack affair by both teams. Seven tries were scored in the second half and the Cell C Sharks won 40-33 after an "exciting ding dong" second half.
A perfect start for Benetton as Sebastian Negri scored a try within 2 minutes of the start of the match, which was followed by a second try from Ignacio Brex to lead 14-00 after 7 minutes of play in the first half.
The Cell C Sharks started to attack their opponents physically and used pick-and-goes extensively before Vincent Tshituka barged over the visitors' tryline to score a well-deserved try and reduce the visitors' lead to 7 points.
Grant Williams sniped and scored the Cell C Sharks' second try after a dominant scrum from the home team to level the scores at 14-14 which was also the halftime score.
The Cell C Sharks started the second half like a house on fire and scored their third try following great handling and interplay with captain Siya Kolisi scoring in the corner to take a 21-14 lead for the first time in the match.
Benetton scored their third try after individual brilliance from Rhyno Smith, Joaquin Riera collected a Smith grubber to score an easy try against a seemingly Cell C Sharks defence that did look interested in defending..
The Cell C Sharks' reply was almost immediate as Grant Williams scored his second try following a great turnover in the Cell C Sharks' own half. Once again the interplay and handling of the Cell C Sharks was the star of the evening.
Thereafter it degraded in a free for all as both teams seemingly scored tries at will with defence, not a priority at all. 7 tries were scored in the second half with the Cell C Sharks winning 43-33.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks: Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Grant Williams (2), Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi (2). Conversions: Curwin Bosch (5). Penalty: Curwin Bosch.
Benetton: Tries: Sebastian Negri, Ignacio Brex, Joaquin Riera, Edoardo Padovani, Tomas Albornoz. Conversions: Tomas Albornoz (4).
Teams:
Cell C Sharks: 15 Henry Chamberlain, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (c), 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nché. Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Carlü Sadie, 19 Jeandre Labuschagne, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marnus Potgieter, 23 Thaakir Abrahams.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Nahuel Tetaz. Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.