Dawn Dunn shares Sharks views

SupeRugby round 1

Cell C Sharks v Vodacom Bulls

Final Score 31-16 (Bonus point win for the Sharks. Woohoo rock and roll)

The build-up to this first match last week was absolutely incredible, exciting and took forever.

We had different reports from both camps about their preparation for this clash and I think that both coaches felt very strongly about how important this fixture would be. I just wanted my boys to win and win very well.

The Good

I am so pleased by the enormous respect shown by both teams to each other. Other teams need to take a leaf out of Jake and Frans Ludeke’s book.  Smash each other silly on the field and after the match shake hands and have a lekker braai together.

The Average

I really am delighted that the Bulls could not find their mojo on Saturday. I think that they left it in Pretoria! I was surprised by the number of handling errors and lack of intensity shown by them. Then again, Durbs was absolutely sweltering on Saturday night (my hair can attest to that as it frizzed!) and the conditions made ball handling very difficult. I got the impression though, that the Bulls weren’t convinced that they had a snowballs chance and they did the minimum effort required from them. The Bulls are known for their physicality and tactical kicking as well their line-outs. Very little went well for them and they only managed to score their first try after 71 mins when Jean Deysel was on a yellow. Otherwise, a very uninspiring performance by them. It was really good to see Spies and Hougie back in action and this bodes well for our Boks. A very warm welcome back to Bok legend ‘Big’ Vic Matfield.

The Awesome

Wow, what can I say. The boys just dazzled me. Mvovo (who I am convinced has built in jets on his boots) cut through the Bulls defence like butter and  perfectly timed his pass to Jordaan, who jotted down a try 10 mins after the match started. Cobusie’s intercept try was a thing of beauty. Still smiling about it. He wasn’t even tackled! The third try was sparked once again after yet another Bulls handling error. Skipper, Bismarck  ‘Bliksem’ du Plessis, timed a wonderful off-load to our Fransie, who then proceeded to kick the most beautiful cross kick to Odwa, who collected the ball and went sailing over the try line. We had a pesky yellow card towards the end of the match, but the boys defended well and we only leaked one try. Our Lambie, clearly showing us that marriage agrees with him, jotted down for the magical bonus point try #happiness! Jaco Peyper did a really excellent job refereeing this match and I got the opportunity to chat with him  afterwards. I also would like to thank our wonderful Durban crowd for coming out in droves to support this very special team. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys rock!

Our photo shows Dawn enjoying rugby in the company of Darren Maule and Mak Dlamini.

(File Photo:Gallo Images and Albert Heenop)

- Dawn Dunn and Andre Bloem

Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @DawnDunnRugby