‘People must get over it’ — Kolisi defends Jaden Hendrikse

Sharks loose forward Siya Kolisi threw the full weight of the team behind scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, who has recently been savaged by the UK media, with accusations of gamesmanship, during their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinal penalty shootout win over Munster over the weekend.

Jaden, his brother Jordan and Bradley Davids were the three kickers chosen by the Sharks for the unprecedented shootout, after the teams were locked at 24-all after 100 minutes of rugby.

During the shootout the three Sharks kickers nailed their first attempts, while Munster’s Jack Crowley and Conor Murray slotted theirs, but Rory Scannell missed his shot at goal.

In the second round Jaden goaled his second attempt, before falling to the turf with an obvious cramp, that was treated by the medical staff, and delayed Crowley’s shot, while the Sharks scrumhalf also threw a wink at the irritated Munster flyhalf.

Once Jaden was moved, Crowley converted his kick, before angrily approaching Jaden and a Sharks medical team member, delivering a foul mouthed tirade in their direction.

Kept their cool

Jordan and Davids then kept their cool to nail their attempts as well, to send the Sharks through to a URC semifinal against the Bulls.

The UK press has since had a field day, questioning if Hendrikse was faking his cramp, but pictures have clearly shown that he did have a cramp, although he did inflame the situation by winking at an exasperated Crowley.

Asked in a Sharks press conference on Tuesday what he thought of the situation, Kolisi stated that the team stood with Jaden, and that it was just a bit of banter, something the Irish players are well known for, and said that people needed to get over it.

“We stand with Jaden. Jaden is competitive and there had been banter throughout the game. It’s normal and these things happen. People can say what they like, but there was banter between two players and that’s all there is (to it),” said Kolisi.

“Jaden knows that we back him all the way. You can see he cramped, there was definitely cramping. People must just get over it. It’s rugby, it’s entertainment. That’s what the fans want.

“Players want to celebrate, do what they do and be themselves, and we’ve all got our own ways of dealing with stuff on the field. Come on, we can’t box each other and all be the same. We’re not robots, we’re human beings. Sometimes we will take it and sometimes we will give it.”

Dramatic match

In all it was a fantastically dramatic match, that was incredibly boring over the first 40 minutes that saw the visitors leading 7-0 at half time, before bursting to life in a thrilling back and forth second half, that ended with the sides 24-all.

A scoreless 20 minutes of extra time was then battled out, before the dramatic penalty shootout took centre stage to close out a wonderful spectacle.

“I thought last weekend was really exciting, I hadn’t been part of a finish like that before and it was good for rugby,” added Kolisi.

“It is pretty amazing how everyone is now talking about it, how rugby was brought into focus by what happened (in the match).

“People are talking about it, supporters are sending each other messages. During the game everyone was on the edge of their seats, and it was very heated, which is what people want. That is good for rugby.”