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Loader try decisive as Stormers inflict more URC woe on the Sharks

By PA
Stormers' Ben Loader (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images)

The Sharks suffered more United Rugby Championship misery as the Stormers inflicted a ninth league defeat on them by winning 25-21 in Durban.

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They continue to prop up the table with a solitary win from 10 starts this season while their South African rivals remain strong play-off contenders.

The Stormers cruised into an early lead through tries from hooker Joseph Dweba and scrum-half Paul de Wet, with centre Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding one conversion and then kicking a penalty just before half-time.

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Prop Ox Nche, flanker James Venter and hooker Bongi Mbonambi claimed tries for the Sharks, with Curwin Bosch and Siya Masuku (two) kicking conversions to secure a losing bonus point.

But wing Ben Loader’s 49th-minute try, converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, proved decisive and the centre also slotted a late penalty.

Fixture
United Rugby Championship
Sharks
21 - 25
Full-time
Stormers
All Stats and Data
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Tom 57 minutes ago
England player ratings vs South Africa | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

That 2019 performance was literally the peak in attacking rugby under Eddie. If you thought that was underwhelming, the rest of it was garbage.


I totally get what you're saying and England don't need or have any God given right to the best coaches in the world... But I actually think the coaches we do have are quite poor and for the richest union in the world, that's not good enough. 


England are competitive for sure but with the talent pool up here and the funds available, we should be in the top 3. At the very least we should be winning six nations titles on a semi-regular basis. If Ireland can, England definitely should.


England's attack coach (Richard Wigglesworth) is Borthwick's mate from his playing days at Saracens, who he brought to Leicester with him when he became coach. Wigglesworth was a 9 who had no running or passing game, but was the best box kicker in the business. He has no credentials to be an attack coach and I've seen nothing to prove otherwise. Aside from Marcus Smith’s individual brilliance, our collective attack has looked very uninspiring.

 

England's defence coach (Joe El-Abd) is Borthwick's housemate from uni, who has never been employed as a defence coach before. He's doing the job part time while he's still the head coach of a team in the second division of French rugby who have an awful defensive record. England's defence has gone from being brutally efficient under Felix Jones to as leaky as a colander almost overnight.


If Borthwick brings in a new attack and defence coach then I'll absolutely get behind him but his current coaches seem to be the product of nepotism. He's brought in people he's comfortable with because he lacks confidence as an international head coach and they aren't good enough for international rugby.


England are competitive because they do some things really well, mostly they front up physically, make a lot of big hits, have a solid kicking game, a good lineout, good maul, Marcus Smith and some solid forwards. A lot of what we do well I would ascribe to Borthwick personally. I don't think he's a bad coach, I think he lacks imagination and is overly risk averse. He needs coaches who will bring a point of difference.


I guess my point is, yes England are competitive, but we’re not aiming for competitive and I honestly don't believe this coaching setup has what it takes to make us any better than competitive.


On the plus side it looks like we have an amazing crop of young players coming through. Some of them who won the u20 world cup played for England A against Australia A on the weekend and looked incredible... Check out the highlights on youtube.

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