Durban - Glasgow Warriors coach Nigel Carolan perhaps summed up best what went down at Kings Park on Saturday when he said: “Before the match when we looked at that bench, we knew we would have to rack up plenty of points in the first half.”
Carolan was standing in for head coach Franco Smith, the former Free Stater who has coached around the world but curiously could not return to South Africa for the game because of visa issues.
No doubt Smith agreed with Carolan when the Sharks announced a bench that contained World Cup winners in Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche and Makazola Mapimpi, while the powerful Carlu Sadie was not out of place in that illustrious company.
“That was a lot of power we were going to have to deal with in the second half and our plan was to run the Sharks off their feet in the first half and nail as many points as we could, but that never happened, and it meant we were going to be in trouble in the last quarter,” Carolan said.
The Sharks were indeed a sight to behold in that last quarter. The foot went down on the accelerator and Glasgow were brutally blasted off the park.
The Sharks’ United Rugby Championship rivals will have taken note that when the Sharks are at full strength, they will take some stopping, especially when they have the colossal Eben Etzebeth in the heart of the engine room. If the Bok lock wanted to win over the Kings Park faithful in his debut outing, he did it with ease with a compelling performance of power play.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH #FearTheFin Vodacom #URC #SHAvGLA pic.twitter.com/XLZWb5xrTO
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) October 15, 2022
Coach Sean Everitt said Etzebeth had been keen to please and had spent the week studying Glasgow.
“He did his lineout homework and was superb in the lineouts from an attacking and defensive perspective,” Everitt said.
“There was much to be admired from his performance and it was a great start from him. He is one of the best players in the world, if not the best lock in the world.
“I’m South African by heart”
- Eben Etzebeth 💚#BKTURC #URC | #SHAvGLA @SharksRugby pic.twitter.com/jfNnLkre12
“He certainly played like that is the case and deserved his man-of-the-match award.”
Etzebeth’s stand-out performance eclipsed that of another debutant, Vincent Tshituka, but not by too much, and Everitt explained that the former Lion had woken up feeling off-colour.
“Vincent wasn't feeling well today and he wasn't in the best of shape. He woke up with gastro symptoms,” Everitt said. “He was determined to play and push through. He may not have felt great, but he certainly played well enough and we’re very proud of him.”
Even though the first half was not convincing from the Sharks, you always had the feeling that Glasgow would fade.
“We knew it was going to be difficult in the first half, but we had a lot of power coming off the bench," Everitt said. “The guys that played in the first 40 did the hard yards and the game opened up well for us in the second half.
“We played well off turnover ball, and we created many opportunities. It was good that we got our attack together, so we’re happy with the result as we look forward to a tough match against Ulster (in Durban).
@MikeGreenaway67