There was a lot of effort from the Sharks but little spring in their step as their Super Rugby challenge fizzled out in the wet of Hamilton. Call it a bridge too far, call it a team doomed by the fatigue factor, but however you look at it, one team
Mike Greenaway: So is travel a valid excuse for Sharks' final defeat? Oh yes it is...
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The Sharks' JP Pieterson last night. Photo / Getty Images
There was no sign of the effervescent Sharks team that on the way to the final had to first blow away the Bulls and Cheetahs in round-robin games before playing blinders away from home against the Reds and the Stormers, and then heading back across the Indian Ocean for a final that was one cross too many to bear.
It was just too much and many South African pundits accurately felt that after the Sharks came back from Brisbane to play the Stormers, they were in reality playing their final, because going all the way back again was physically and mentally too taxing. Machines could have done it, but not humans.
As the game hit that second quarter, the Sharks' lineout started to creak and groan and then came the handling errors in dealing with the Chiefs' kicking game. When the confidence started going, the Sharks made their own handling errors as they tried to make things happen while playing hopelessly behind the advantage line.
The week before, in the semifinal at the same venue against the Crusaders, the illustrious visitors were equally shut out by the imposing home defence. So while Durban will be cursing the travel factor, and indeed it played its role, the Chiefs were never going to be denied on a famous night for the Waikato.