Plumtree hails Sharks hero Davids

JOHN Plumtree has been involved in rugby in some shape or form for half a century but Saturday’s night’s bizarre ending to the United Rugby Championship quarterfinal against Munster was a first for the Sharks coach.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

After 100 minutes of tense arm wrestle, the match had to be decided by a soccer-style penalty shoot-out, although the kicks at goal were taken from various points on the field.

The match had ended at 24-24 and 20 minutes of extra time could provide no further scoring.

Plumtree said that as the second half of extra time was winding down, there was a scramble in the Sharks' coaching box to find the map of how the kicks would be taken.

There was also the shrewd decision to get young Bradley Davids onto the field with two minutes to go so that he could participate in the kicking, and how providential that decision would prove to be.

The shoot-out requires three kickers from each team to kick for posts from various positions. Jordan and Jaden Hendrikse were obvious choices and the Sharks coaches knew that Davids, a scrumhalf product of Paarl Gimnasium, was a cool kicker.