Match Report

03/31/2025 04:05 AM

Leinster denied the Hollywoodbets Sharks the opportunity to maintain their 100% home record at Hollywoodbets Kings Park when they crafted a 10-7 Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory against the odds.

It was a game of near test match proportions, tight, tense and incredibly physical, with defences tested and few opportunities to score. The Hollywoodbets Sharks forwards were immense and the scrum absolutely dominant, but it wasn't to be.

The opening quarter was as fiercely contested as all the hype promised, with the Hollywoodbets Sharks enjoying the early gains in possession and territory, but the young Leinster side up to the task as they defended bravely.

Then it was the Irish who enjoyed a period of lasting possession as game dominance shifted away from the home team to the visitors.

It was physical and brutal as the players smashed each other on attack and defence, but it was Leinster who scored first after Jaden Hendrikse was carded for cynical play on defence and from the resultant penalty, the visitors scored in the corner for a 5-nil lead.

The intensity never let up, but often it was the Durban summer heat and humidity that won the battle of ball handling as both sides battled with the slippery ball.

Both sides had their opportunities and both delivered some committed play that they just couldn't gain any reward, given the courage shown on defence. It was tight and physical and when the teams headed into the changerooms for the half-time break, the solitary try from Leinster, sans the conversion, was the only difference on the scoreboard.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks had dominated at scrum time, earning a number of penalties, while their work at the lineout was pinpoint on their throw and when they contested, also enjoyed some gains in disrupting or stealing possession.

Seven minutes into the second half, Leinster had their second try, a composed and clinical build-up to take a 10-nil lead.

A response was vital and after Leinster conceded a lineout penalty and Jordan Hendrikse kicked to touch, the Hollywoodbets Sharks forwards mauled the ball up a good 15m towards the tryline, before Bongi Mbonambi broke from the back and smashed through to get over for his team's only try, with Hendrikse converting to cut the lead to three points.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks forwards continued to dominate at scrum time, exacting penalties almost at will as they gave their Leinster counterparts a torrid time at the set-piece, but perhaps excitement on attack wasn't enough to deliver the finishing blow.

Leinster played the final quarter hanging on for dear life, not much happening on attack for them, but their work on defence was enough to hold out.

Fortune almost favoured the brave Hollywoodbets Sharks as a last minute penalty was kicked to touch in search of victory rather than a draw, and while the initial maul proved effective, Leinster managed to get bodies around the ball and prevent it from coming out to deny the home side what would have been an incredible fightback victory.

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