Connacht outclass second-string Sharks

The Sharks suffered a disappointing defeat to Connacht on Saturday night.

Arriving in Galway on a five-game winning streak, a second-string Sharks team coached by Joey Mongalo struggled to assert their physicality. They trailed 19-0 at half-time before finally succumbing 24-12 to a Connacht outfit that claimed just their fifth win of the tournament.

Centre Cathal Forde crossed the whitewash twice for the hosts, while flank Connor Oliver and fullback Tiernan O’Halloran also scored tries. Flyhalf Jack Carty kicked two conversions.

Springbok centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg and hooker Kerron van Vuuren scored second-half tries for the Sharks, with substitute flyhalf Lionel Cronje slotting a conversion.

The visitors overhauled their starting line-up for this match, with former Maties star Nevaldo Fleurs and several other youngsters making their Vodacom United Rugby Championship debut.

While Connacht were plagued by handling errors that contributed to the stop-start nature of the game, they dominated possession in the first half, scoring three tries in the second quarter.

The moment of the match came when winger Mack Hansen delighted the Irish crowd with a clever dink over the rushed Sharks defence for Forde to gather before offloading to O’Halloran for a sublime attacking try.

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Connacht secured the bonus point when Forde went over for his second of the evening, in the 55th minute, after charging down Fleurs’ clearance kick. That came after the Sharks had failed to take advantage of a yellow card to Connacht hooker Shane Delahunt.

The visitors responded with two second-half tries, and had another disallowed, but never looked like winning the match.

A full-strength Sharks team will take on Bordeaux Begles in a Champions Cup clash at Kings Park next Saturday.