11 February 2005
The Sharks beat London club Harlequins 31-3 last night in a warm-up for the Super 12.
On Sunday the Stormers will play Wasps in London in their final warm-up. The Stormers and the Sharks meet in a first Super 12 match at Newlands on February 25.
Last night's win by the Sharks was their fourth successive one in this annual fixture against Quins.
The Sharks drove the ball powerfully in the loose and looked sharper than their opponents in most phases.
A half-time lead of 14-3 was turned into a comfortable second-half showing once centre Trevor Halstead had put them 21-3 ahead soon after half-time.
To give them more fire power, the Sharks brought on Brent Russell and Craig Davidson at the start of the second half.
Not everything the Sharks attempted worked and there was a tendency to run lateral lines in the midfield. But generally, it was a decent work-out.
Springbok coach, Jake White, was at the Stoop ground to watch the Sharks. He saw the visitors dominate the first half against a Harlequins side that included only six first-team regulars.
Scorers:
Harlequins:
Penalty: Harvey
Sharks:
Tries: Immelman, Ndungane, Halstead, Russell.
Conversions: Barnard (4).
Penalty: Schutte
The Wasps will be without several regulars against the Stormers on Sunday, writes Dale Granger.
Wasps are stretched thin with flank Joe Worsley, centre Josh Lewsey and scrumhalf Matt Dawson all on Six Nations call-up for England, while centre Simon Shaw, fullback Tom Voyce and flyhalf Alex King will be playing for England A.
Flank Johnny O'Connor is in Ireland's team and centre Fraser Waters and Samoan hooker Trevor Leota are injured.
A lull in the club fixtures also gave prop Will Green and wing Matt Priscott the opportunity to take off the weekend. Essentially, the Stormers will play a second-string Wasps side.
"It will be a young Wasps side keen to prove themselves and the Stormers will be testing combinations," said England and Wasps centre Stuart Abbott, who is recovering in the Cape from a broken leg. Abbott is also a former Stormers player.
Western Province Rugby chief executive Rob Wagner said the matches against Gwent Dragons last week in Dubai and against Wasps had been arranged to prepare the Stormers for the gruelling travel schedule on their Super 12 tour to Australia and New Zealand.
He said the sluggish English conditions would also give Stormers coach Gert Smal the opportunity to test his tight five in the potentially wet conditions that the Stormers might encounter in New Zealand.
Stormers squad:
Adri Badenhorst, Andries Bekker, Bolla Conradie, Breyton Paulse, Chris Rossouw, David Britz, David Hendriks, De Wet Barry, Eddie Andrews, Faan Rautenbach, Gaffie du Toit, Gerrie Britz, Gus Theron, Jean de Villiers, Joe Van Niekerk, Luke Watson, Marius Joubert, Neil de Kock, Pat Barnard, Pieter Dixon, Quinton Davids, Riaan Olckers, Rob Linde, Schalk Burger, Tiger Mangweni, Tonderai Chavhanga, Werner Greeff.
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