Four-try Sharks nil Pumas
The Sharks claimed their first win of the Currie Cup campaign when they beat the Pumas 29-0 in Durban on Saturday.
It was a game of two halves as a different Sharks team came out of the changing room after half-time and dominated the second half after they battled to get going during the opening period.
The Sharks eventually outscored their visitors four tries to zero with all their five-pointers scored in the second half.
The first half was a dour affair with an early penalty from the boot of Curwin Bosch the only points scored during this period.
Bosch's penalty in the fifth minute meant the Sharks had their tails up early on and they spent the next 10 minutes camped inside the Pumas' half.
In the 15th minute, Keegan Daniel got a pass out to Hyron Andrews who made a dash for the line but his effort was just short of the whitewash and he also knocked on.
That was the best try-scoring chance during that period as the rest of the half was an arm-wrestle characterised by a plethora of unforced errors from both sides.
The Sharks made a superb start to the second half and four minutes after the restart, Chiliboy Ralepelle did brilliantly to win a turnover in the Pumas' 22. The ball was taken wide to the backs and Kobus van Wyk did well to draw in the final defender before throwing a skip pass to Lukhanyo Am who crossed in the left-hand corner.
Bosch showed his class when he added the extras from close to the touchline which gave his side a deserved 10-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Garth April found himself in the clear down the left-hand touchline before throwing an inside pass to S’busiso Nkosi who crossed for the second try.
The hosts continued to dominate as the half progressed and on the hour-mark Van Wyk crossed for their third try after Am and Daniel laid the groundwork in the build-up.
The Sharks secured the result – and their bonus point – in the 67th minute when Jeremy Ward dotted down after gathering a pass from Nkosi deep inside the Pumas' 22.
The scorers:
For Sharks:
Tries: Am, Nkosi, Van Wyk, Ward
Cons: Bosch 3
Pen: Bosch
Sharks: 15 Garth April, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 S’busiso Nkosi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha (c), 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Tyler Paul, 19 Tera Mtembu, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Inny Radebe
Pumas: 15 Gerrit Smith, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Hennie Skorbinski (c), 11 JP Lewis, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jeremy Jordaan, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Kwezi Mona
Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Jannie Stander, 19 Chris Cloete, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Devon Williams
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Assistant Referees: Archie, Sehlako, Aimee Barrett-Theron
TMO: Johan Greeff