Sharks vs Leinster

2022 - 4 - 23

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Image courtesy of "The South African"

URC LIVE Scores: The Sharks vs Leinster (The South African)

The Sharks will hunt their third victory in a row and aim to remain in a comfortable position for a quarter-final spot.

They have been a top side in Europe for some time now and the players are looking forward to the challenge.”SA Rugby They have only lost once against a team from South Africa away from home since 2017, meaning it could be a tight tussle. Ox Nche of the Sharks loses grip of the ball on the try line during the United Rugby Championship 2021/22 match between the Sharks and Edinburgh. Photo: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix

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Image courtesy of "Irish Mirror"

Leinster v Sharks RESULT and match recap from United Rugby ... (Irish Mirror)

Leinster headed to South Africa in search of another United Rugby Championship victory as the table-toppers fielded a more inexperienced outfit.

“The environment is certainly going to be a bit alien to us so that’s why we tried to get here as early as possible coming off the Connacht game. Leinster 0 Sharks 0 The lineout maul works a charm for the Sharks and they bundle collectively over the try line as Bongi Mbonambi is the man who grounds the ball. Leinster 7 Sharks 7 Leinster 0 Sharks 0 Leinster 7 Sharks 7 Sharks scrum now with very little time left on the clock. The decision looks as though it will go in Leinster's favour, with a forward pass ruling looking likely. Into the 83rd minute and Leinster have burrowed and scraped their way to within inches of a game-clinching try. An impromptu game of foot tennis has broken out of late here, which probably suits the home side more as the time ticks away. There was to be a response from the Sharks before half-time, however, as full back Aphelele Fassi caught a deep Leinster kick and returned it with interest on the run. After breezing through the gap, he offloaded to Jaden hendrikse who was able to run it in for the try.

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Image courtesy of "RTE.ie"

United Rugby Championship: Sharks 28-23 Leinster recap (RTE.ie)

The Sharks have leapfrogged Ulster into the top four of the URC, after a nailbiting win against leaders Leinster in Durban.

We reset with a scrum to the blues on half-way. Penalty at the scrum courtsey of Peter Dooley, and Leinster kick it down to the Sharks 22. This is the game!

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Image courtesy of "Leinster Rugby"

Match Report: Cell C Sharks 28 Leinster Rugby 23 (Leinster Rugby)

When Leinster moved the ball from a smooth lineout, Marius Louw shook the ball free from Max Deegan's grasp. A scrum penalty, given against Andrew Porter, saw ...

Clever work from O’Brien earned a Leinster lineout inside the 22. Leinster needed to dig deep. Sensing the nature of the conditions, the ball was increasingly put to flight and Porter was spotted lifting a leg at a maul to invite pressure from the Sharks lineout. It was Leinster’s turn to move the maul, giving up ground when McCarthy’s launch kick led to another penalty and more maul pressure where Barron was binned for a side entry to reduce Leinster to 13 men. Leo Cullen’s men looked to keep the ball in hand, O’Brien chasing Byrne’s kick, snagging Hendrikse and claiming a penalty on the floor for Frawley to slot the points in the 43rd minute. Leinster’s desire to move the ball was snapped by Makazole Mapimpi’s pick of the pass to rush in under the posts, Bosch converting to tie the scores at the end of the quarter.

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Image courtesy of "The Irish Times"

Leinster miss out on chance to seal top spot as young guns go down ... (The Irish Times)

The Sharks denied Leinster an opportunity to wrap up top spot in the United Rugby Championship with two games to spare in a hard-fought 28-23 win in Durban. Leo ...

Bosch converted despite the ball persistently slipping from the tee due to the weather, making it 21-20. Frawley kicked a penalty early in the second half as the rain grew heavier but the Sharks had the lead after Mbonambi touched down from the back of a driving maul. The Sharks kicked on in the second half with scores from Bongi Mbonambi and Phepsi Buthelezi as Leinster paid the price for a pair of yellow cards.

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Image courtesy of "Irish Post"

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has picked his team for Cell C ... (Irish Post)

The two-week tour of South Africa begins today. Leinster will travel to Kings Park in Durban where we face Cell C Sharks this Saturday (KO 5.15pm Irish time).

Deeny, who has played for Wexford Wanderers and Clontarf, has also featured for the Irish U20 side and has been selected to start in the second row. According to the 42: Belfast native McKee, who has been named on the bench, captained Campbell College to an Ulster Schools Cup in 2018 before moving to UCD. He has also captained Ireland at underage level and currently plays with Old Belvedere. LEINSTER HEAD coach Leo Cullen for the game away to Cell C Sharks on Saturday evening.

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Image courtesy of "The42"

Sharks beat Leinster to draw level on points with Munster and Ulster ... (The42)

Sharks are now fourth in the table following their 28-23 win over Leinster.

As for Connacht, well, their slim hopes of reaching the play-offs are now officially over on the back of this result. First, Ulster who now drop to fifth place in the URC table, thereby out of the placings that guarantees the top four a home quarter-final. And Bosch’s conversion pushed the home team into a 21-20 lead.

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Image courtesy of "News24"

Sharks show demonic defence to edge gutsy weakened Leinster (News24)

The Sharks had to show great goal line defence to keep Leinster out of their try line at the death and secure a bonus point win over the URC log leaders.

Then, Leinster camped inside the Sharks 22, looking to weasel through for the try and conversion to break the Sharks' hearts but the home side held on for dear life. Leinster then suffered two yellow cards for lineout and maul drive defence infringements but the Sharks laboured to break the visitors down. The Sharks had to show great goal-line defence to keep the so-called Leinster "B" side out of their try line at the death and secure a four-try bonus-point win over the United Rugby Championship log leaders.

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Image courtesy of "Independent.ie"

Leinster young guns come up short as Sharks hold on for narrow ... (Independent.ie)

It's fair to say that while 'it's a hard place to go' is one of most used and inaccurate lines in rugby, in South Africa it's on the money.

It remains to be seen how many of this group get to lace a boot when the knockouts arrive, but either way all will be the better for this experience. In the end it was the Sharks who were down a man as the game descended to near farce, but for Leo Cullen’s gaggle of greenhorns, the battle scars from struggling for a period with 13 men will be worth the pain. They were trumped by the Sharks and unusually for Leinster, a losing bonus point was a creditable return.

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