Boks grab braces as Stormers beat Sharks at Super Hero Sunday

Rugby World Cup winning Springboks Makazole Mapimpi and Herschel Jantjies helped themselves to braces of tries in their first hit outs since their triumph in Japan last November.

Mapimpi has seemingly tapped straight back into the rich vein of form he displayed at the World Cup as he rounded off two exceptional tries for the Sharks. Jantjies was equally impressive for the Stormers as he produced two moments of magic to grab himself a brace as well.

Godlin Masimla scored the Stormers third try and Sharks centre Marius Louw scored the final try of the game, but the Stormers ended up taking the result as one of Curwin Bosch’s conversion attempts sailed wide.

It must be mentioned that the Sharks had two tries disallowed during the game. The first was controversial as Sbu Nkosi was judged to have knocked the ball on as he was reaching out to score early in the game. The second was clear cut, as a piece of obstruction led to a sensational try from Aphelele Fassi being scrapped.

The Sharks looked dominant in the first ten minutes of the game and spent a considerable amount of time camped in the Stormers 22.

The Durban outfit’s forward pack launched a couple of well-rehearsed attacks from mauls but the Stormers managed to scramble on defence to keep the Sharks out. 

Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi was denied a try on the 18th minute, after he bulldozed over Edwill van der Merwe from an attack down the blindside of a scrum. The TMO was called in to adjudicate the try, which was then turned around once the camera showed that Nkosi had lost the ball as he was trying to dot it down.

The tide then swayed in favour of the Stormers as they ventured into the Sharks 22. Attacking from a strong driving maul, scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies sniped through a gaping hole as the Sharks defence shot off the line. The World Cup winner scored underneath the posts to give the Stormers a 7-0 lead.

The Sharks got on the board next after forcing a scrum penalty inside their half. Scrumhalf Louis Schreuder took a quick tap and shifted the ball to his outside backs.

Lukhanyo Am spotted some space in behind the Stormers backs and put the ball to boot. His Springbok partner in crime Makazole Mapimpi chased the ball down and beat the cover defence to score in the left hand corner. Bosch couldn’t add the extras from the touchline, leaving the Sharks trailing 7-5 at half time.

The Sharks grabbed the first score of the second half as they launched an attack from a wide sweeping move. The Durban outfit played the ball behind dummy runners and found space outwide.

Aphelele Fassi joined the line and drew a final defender before releasing Mapimpi, who sprinted down the left hand touchline to wrap things up under the posts. The try put the Sharks into a 12-7 lead.

Not to be outdone by Mapimpi, Jantjies then grabbed a second try for himself as the Sharks looked to run the ball from inside their half once again. Attacking from a lineout on halfway, number 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe carried the ball up into the midfield before the Sharks changed direction from the middle of the pitch.

Jantjies read the play and shot out of the line for a perfectly timed intercept before running away to score underneath the posts - giving the Stormers a 14-12 lead.

The Cape outfit extended their lead with a try on the 71st minute. The Stormers worked their way into the Sharks half thanks to a break from Sergeal Peterson. The livewire wing then popped up a couple of phases later and chipped the ball into space. 

Godlin Masimla scooped up the loose ball and scored - giving the Stormers a 21-12 lead.

The Sharks managed to hit back with a try of their own courtesy of another chip and chase moment. Reserve flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain popped the ball over the Stormers defence and centre Marius Louw plucked the ball from the air before sprinting away and stretching out to score. Chamberlain converted the try to make it 21-19 to the Stormers.