Durban — The Sharks credentials as serious Currie Cup title challengers are growing week by week and they were commanding in the way they dismantled the Cheetahs 35-23 at a drenched HollywoodBets Kings Park on Friday night.
It was the Durban team’s fifth win in a row and with three rounds to go before the playoffs, they are closing in home semi-final territory.
The way the Sharks play under rising coach Joey Mongalo surely has their chief rivals worried.
Their defence is magnificent while their work off the ball suggests happy players who enjoy working hard for each other.
They have now comfortably beaten the Cheetahs home and away. In last night’s game, they led from start to finish and never looked in danger.
The Cheetahs started well enough and the Sharks would have to soak up five minutes of relentless pressure before clearing their lines without having conceded a point, and then promptly kicked three of their own via the boot of Lionel Cronje.
The Sharks scored the first try of the match thanks to the sweetest dummy thrown by Henco Venter to send the defence one way and the ball the other to the waiting wing Aphelele Fassi, who finished strongly.
There was an unfortunate moment in the 16th minute when an accidental head clash between ball carrier Venter and his opposition flanker Sibabalo Qoma cost the latter ten minutes in the bin, a big blow for a Cheetahs side that was 10-0 down.
Ruan Pienaar pulled three points back but the Sharks hit straight back when centre Alwayno Visagie followed up a clever Yaw Penxe chip into the in-goal area. Cronje missed the conversion but when he rectified that with his second penalty, the Cheetahs were in trouble at 18-3 with five minutes to halftime.
But they nailed a crucial score when Qoma, made up for his time in the bin when he showed powerful leg drive to power over from a tap penalty. But the Cheetahs would have kicked themselves when they gave away a post-hooter penalty for Cronje to make it 21-10 at the break.
Straight after the restart, Pienaar cancelled those three points with a shot from right in front but again the Sharks replied with a try, this time scrumhalf Tiaan Fourie wriggling through sloppy ruck defence.
Once more Pienaar kicked an easy penalty but this chipping away with three-pointers was never going to be enough when the Sharks’ lead was so substantial.
The Sharks duly put the seal on it when Dian Bleuler was driven over from a lineout maul for the bonus-point try.
The Cheetahs never go away and four minutes from time Daniel Maartens scored from a maul.
Sharks 35 — Tries: Aphelele Fassi, Alwayno Visagie, Tiaan Fourie, Dian Bleuler. Penalties: Lionel Cronje (3). Conversions: Cronje (3).
Cheetahs 23 — Tries: Sibabalo Qoma, Daniel Maartens. Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (3). Conversions: Pienaar, Siya Masuku.
IOL Sport