Zane Kirchner tries to breach the Sharks defence
The Sharks stayed in contention for Currie Cup honours after beating the Blue Bulls 39-27 in Pretoria on Saturday.
The match was a physical affair but in the end the Sharks' ability to dominate up front paved the way to victory.
They raced into a 16-0 lead after Meyer Bosman slotted three early penalties and Sibusiso Sithole scored a converted try in the 16th minute.
The home side did not panic and struck back with a try by their hard-working flanker Warwick Tecklenburg, who barged over from close quarters.
Bjorn Basson scored a fine try in the 25th minute, after the Bulls launched a counter-attack from inside their 22 metre area.
After good work by Wynand Olivier and Zane Kirchner, Basson was put in the clear close to the halfway line, before outpacing the cover defence to touch down.
The visitors extended their lead in the 31st when Craig Burden beat two defenders before touching down.
The second half was a more subdued affair, which was highlighted by solid defence from both sides.
The Bulls were over eager in their quest for victory and committed far too many errors.
Sharks pivot Frederic Michalak goaled three penalties to extend his team's lead to 32-15 by the 66th miute.
However, the match came alive when Sharks speedster Lwazi Mvovo scored a runaway try in the 72nd minute.
This after Meyer Bosman did well to win turnover ball, before offloading to the wing, who scored after a 50 metre dash to the tryline.
This touchdown sealed the win for the Sharks and althoug the home side struck back with consolation tries by Basson and CJ Stander, it was too little too late.
Although the Sharks did not secure a bonus point for scoring four tries, they are still handily placed on the points table.
After eight matches, they are in third position with 26 points, just one point behind second-placed Western Province.
The Golden Lions are still in pole position with 32 points.
The scorers:
For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Basson 2, Tecklenburg, Stander
Con: Fouché, Brummer
Pen: Fouché
For Sharks:
Tries: Sithole, Burden,Mvovo
Cons: Michalak 3
Pen: Michalak 3, Bosman 3
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Zane Kirchner, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Francois Venter.
Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Keegan Daniel (c), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Jan Andre Marais, 3 Eugene van Staden, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Dale Chadwick..
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Adrian Jacobs.
Referee: Mark Lawrence
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