The Sharks clinched a vital 43-33 bonus point win over Benetton to put them on the verge of securing a place in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinals, after their match at Kings Park in Durban on Friday night.
Benetton got off to a flyer in the match, taking a 14-0 lead within the first 10 minutes to stun the hosts.
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The first came from a scintillating break from eighthman Lorenzo Cannone which set the visitors up in the Sharks 22m, before going through the phases for flank Sebastian Negri to go over in the corner.
The second from a lineout saw Benetton spread the ball, with flyhalf Tomas Albronoz stepping and putting outside centre Juan Brex in to score.
The Sharks then fought back over the rest of the half as their forward pack started dominating, with powerful mauls and scrums.
Good forward interplay after a maul in the visitors 22m led to flank Vincent Tshituka crashing over for their first try, converted by flyhalf Curwin Bosch in the 14th minute.
A number of huge Sharks scrums in the Benetton 22m led to scrumhalf Grant Williams picking up at the base and sniping over to score, with the extras drawing them level in the 31st minute and the scores staying deadlocked at the break.
Perfect start
The hosts got off to the perfect start in the second half as captain Siya Kolisi finished off a superb attack that went from one side of the field to the other with them moving 21-14 up after 42 minutes.
Benetton hit back in the 50th minute as fullback Ryno Smith hoofed an up and under, collected it himself and grubbered it through for inside centre Joaquin Riera to go over for an unconverted score.
Five minutes later it was the Sharks turn to use the boot as a superb break into the Benetton half saw fullback Boeta Chamberlain grubber ahead for Williams to pick up and run in his second giving them a 28-19 lead.
The back and forth match continued as Benetton right wing Edoardo Padovani finished off a score, only for Sharks left wing Makazole Mapimpi to show his extreme pace with a quickfire double as they moved 40-26 ahead after 66 minutes.
A brilliant solo effort from Albornoz with 10 minutes to go made it a seven point game, but a late penalty from Bosch sealed the win for the home side.
Earlier in the day the Bulls Currie Cup revival continued as they picked up a 24-20 win over the Sharks at Kings Park.
It was a strong first half showing from the Bulls that saw them lead 19-3 at the break, which proved to give them enough of a gap to hold off a late Sharks surge to seal their second win in a row.
Scorers
Sharks: Tries – Vincent Tshituka, Grant Williams (2), Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi (2); Conversions – Curwin Bosch (5); Penalty – Bosch
Benetton: Tries – Sebastian Negri, Juan Brex, Joaquin Riera, Edoardo Padovani, Tomas Albornoz; Conversions – Albornoz (4)
