Sharks vs Harlequins

2022 - 12 - 10

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Image courtesy of "News24"

13-man Sharks beat Harlequins in enthralling, controversial ... (News24)

South Africa's historic first game as European Champions Cup participants had all the ingredients of refereeing drama, thrilling finishes and spectacular ...

The Sharks held a 32-21 lead with 13 minutes to play after the visiting converted score, which immediately looked tenuous when Harlequins broke from their own half and spread the ball. Sensationally, it was the Sharks who scored the most decisive try of the game with less than a minute left through fullback Boeta Chamberlain. Then in the 27th minute, Jaden Hendrikse and Mapimpi combined for the wing to score his second after the halfback tricked the Harlequins close defence with a back-of-the-hand flick from a scrum. But no amount of feet dragging would prevent the onslaught from the visitors, who pulled a try back through former Sharks centre Esterhuizen in the 65th minute. But the Sharks, ala the Springboks against England at Twickenham in November, held on with, firstly with 13 players and eventually with a man short at the death to claim victory. And officiating controversy would not be left behind after the Sharks lost Ox Nche to a red card with more than 20 minutes to play.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Sharks hold off Harlequins fightback to earn historic Champions Cup ... (The Guardian)

A Springbok-inspired Sharks team survived the double blow of late red and yellow cards to secure a 39-31 triumph against Harlequins in Durban.

The newly appointed director of rugby, the former Springbok sevens coach Neil Powell, has stepped into the head coach role and faced a baptism of fire in his first outing in the new competition which now features three South African sides. But despite playing with 13 men, it was the home side who scored next, Bosch converting a penalty before the former Shark André Esterhuizen found plenty of space out wide. Mapimpi soon had his second after a dominant scrum that allowed him space to attack down the blindside, before Quins scored a rolling maul try to cut the lead to 22-14 at the break. The visitors’ seven-pointer galvanised a strong pack effort from the Sharks, a lineout mauling try for the hooker Bongi Mbonambi, with the fly-half Curwin Bosch adding his own touchline conversion to level the score. [Sharks](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/sharks) with the sacking of their popular coach, Sean Everitt, after a comprehensive 35-0 defeat to Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship last month. The hosts looked up against it when reduced to 13 players as the visitors cut their deficit to one point but a late try for Boeta Chamberlain secured the win.

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Image courtesy of "planetrugby.com"

Champions Cup: Five takeaways from the Sharks v Harlequins as ... (planetrugby.com)

The Sharks are the first South African team to claim a victory in the Champions Cup, defeating Harlequins 39-31 in a thrilling encounter in Durban.

So many teams have folded when confronted by a rampant Harlequins outfit, but the Sharks didn’t, and the odds were stacked against them. Meanwhile, Murley continues to push for higher honours, having missed out on a Test debut in the Autumn Nations Series. The former Wasps man gained over 60 metres, making three clean breaks, and if he continues this form, he will surely become a fan favourite. Nche, Mbonambi, and Siya Kolisi feasted on the Quins’ breakdown, stifling their attack. It wasn’t just in the scrum that the Sharks flexed their pack prowess, with Eben Etzebeth proving to be a handful for the Quins lineout. [Sharks](https://www.planetrugby.com/team/sharks) lost Nche to a red card, and Simon Kerrod came onto the pitch.

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Image courtesy of "Sky Sports"

Heineken Champions Cup: Sharks beat Harlequins to record first ... (Sky Sports)

Harlequins opened their Heineken Champions Cup campaign with a defeat as Sharks became the first South African team to record a victory in the competition.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said: "The lads started with great intent and it was important to score early. We missed our own opportunities in the game to play our game, so it will be frustrating when we debrief the game." They've gone to Racing and beat them 42-10, which is pretty unbelievable. Newcastle and Bath were both beaten in their opening Pool A games of the European Challenge Cup on a day to forget for the Premiership's representatives. In the other game in Pool B, Stormers failed to make it a hat-trick of South African wins as they were beaten 24-14 at Clermont Auvergne. Next up is a trip to Leinster on Friday, and head coach George Skivington said: "You are pretty much playing Ireland.

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Image courtesy of "Independent Online"

Savvy Sharks sink Harlequins at the death (Independent Online)

There were sublime tries from both sides, a return to form for Springbok ace Makazole Mapimpi, a homecoming brace for Quins centre Andre Esterhuizen, ...

He gathered a nothing pass around the halfway line and then kicked a perfectly-weighted 50m kick to the Harlequins in-goal area and outstripped the cover defence for the dot-down. Conversions: Tommy Allan (3) Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4).

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Image courtesy of "The South African"

Champions Cup: Sharks vs Harlequins LIVE scores (The South African)

The Sharks start their Champions Cup campaign at home to English Premiership side Harlequins on Saturday 10 December.

The Sharks face Harlequins in Durban on Saturday. The Sharks start their Champions Cup campaign at home to English Premiership side Harlequins. The Sharks start their Champions Cup campaign at home to English Premiership side Harlequins on Saturday 10 December.

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Image courtesy of "SuperSport"

Mapimpi shines as Sharks make winning start | SuperSport (SuperSport)

The eventful part was the appearance in the first Champions Cup game to be played on South African soil of the modern rugby idiocy of red cards being shown for ...

And so, cue Mapimpi, who effectively set it up or the Sharks in the first half. He subjected experienced England front-row forward to a torrid afternoon. So the visitors were able to keep themselves in the game with a driving maul try dotted down by Will Evans and made a hash of an easy scoring opportunity right at the end of the half that would have made it a one point game rather than a 22-14 advantage to the Sharks at halftime. The Sharks by then were winning a series of scrum penalties, and it was when they were on penalty advantage near the Quins line that a brilliant backwards pop pass from scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse sent Mapimpi over untouched in the left corner to propel the Sharks into a 22-7 lead. It is hard to play ball in hand rugby at the Sharks’ home ground of HollwoodBets Kings Park in the summer months due to the humidity, and it was some of the Springboks in the Sharks pack that were responsible for the platform that Mapimpi was able to exploit at the back. For a while it looked like his former Sharks teammate Andre Esterhuizen might beat Mapimpi to the man of the match award as his brace of tries, and his role in creating a second for Josh Bassett, brought the London team firmly back into the game.

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Image courtesy of "Independent Online"

Sharks have plenty of room for improvement despite crucial home ... (Independent Online)

There was a red card for Ox Nche for going into contact too upright and then Bongi Mbonambi put the Sharks under more pressure when the referee lost ...

“The win was really important, and I think performance-wise, it was a massive step up from last week against Ospreys. If you slip up at home, it will be tough to get into the knock-out stages. “Having one player less on the field is obviously going to make it challenging. Unfortunately, the yellow and red cards in the second half put us a bit under pressure. “We controlled the game nicely in the first half. “And if you have two players less, it becomes even trickier; the opposition is either going to have space out wide or at the back because you don’t have the numbers.”

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