Sharks wing Edwilll van der Merwe (left) was a menace in the air when his team beat the Stormers at Kings Park. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images Sharks captain André Esterhuizen hailed his team’s aerial dominance over the Stormers, which earned them a second United Rugby Championship win against the Cape Town side. The Sharks followed up their 30–19 victory in Cape Town last weekend with amore hard-fought 36–24 winin Durban on Saturday.
Whilethe Stormersimproved their set-piece performance, they were completely outmatched in the air in hot and humid conditions at Kings Park. In the end, they lost five tries to two, suffering just their second loss of the tournament after the Cape Town defeat. Wing Edwill van der Merwe was especially strong fighting the contestables set up by scrumhalves Grant Williams and Jaden Hendrikse.
“Jaden came on and did very well. Grant as well in the first half. We just got a bit of wind behind us in the second half, which helped us a bit,” Esterhuizen said.
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“The contesting from our wings, they were superb in the air. We put them under so much pressure, and we won a lot of scraps. That’s what we worked on the whole week.” The Sharkshave traditionally been very strong in the air, and Esterhuizen pointed out that “it’s one of the most important parts of the game”.
“If you can’t get out of your half, you can’t play rugby. You will be trapped the whole time. It fits conditions like this.
It looks great on TV but it is very slippery and wet out here.” The captain looked forward to their three-week break, which the Sharks go into with three back-to-back wins and five wins out of seven games under new interim coach JP Pietersen. “I am very glad it paid off, and the boys will have a well-deserved break now and come back refreshed.” The Durban side return to the URC with an away derby against the Lions on 21 February, followed by a clash with the Bulls the week after.
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