Sharks blow Canes away

The Sharks stormed to the top of the Super 14 table after seeing off the Hurricanes 33-17 in Durban on Saturday, in what was an enterprising game of rugby played in front of a near sell-out crowd.

The hosts outscored their visitors three tries to two, but had to leave it until the 78th minute to seal the victory following a strong resurgence from the New Zealand outfit.

The Sharks were made to work hard for their victory in a hugely physical match that was tense and nerve-racking. For parts, it was anyone's game but it was home side's character that stood out - especially on defence - even if they were slightly down in that department in the first half.

The Hurricanes ultimately paid the price for their own mistakes. Their inability to secure a series of high balls was capitalised on readily by the Sharks, including for the result-securing try scored late in the game by Chris Jordaan.

One thing you can bank on when these two teams meet is that clashes are going to be hugely physical and this one rarely detracted from huge collisions and big hits. The Hurricanes are not known to be a side that takes a step back for anyone, but in the Sharks had found ruthless opposition.

Attacking

Both sides are saturated with attacking potential, but both preferred to adopt a relatively conservative approach in the first quarter. Tactical kicking dominated the contest in that period, while there was also a clear emphasis on blunting attacking flow through pushing defence and an intense breakdown contest.

The home side found themselves on the back foot early on as Hurricanes' scrum-half cum fly-half Piri Weepu put over a comfortable penalty in the fourth minute.

Sharks scrum-half Rory Kockott reciprocated with a penalty of his own before the visitors went ahead thanks to a Faifili Levave try who bust through a poorly executed tackle from John Smit.

The Sharks will point to the fact that it was a defensive lapse that allowed the Hurricanes' flanker in, but the reality is that it was the one of many chances the visitors actually capitalised on.

Later in the first half the Sharks got themselves back in the game and Kockott goaled two more penalties to make it a one-point game at 9-10 at the break.

Opportunities

The Sharks had few opportunities on attack in the first half and when they did, they looked dangerous. But they would have been frustrated going into the break without anything to show in the try-scoring stakes, albeit they had done extremely well to come back to within a point of the Hurricanes at half-time.

The second half saw the Sharks sneak ahead when they called a short line-out and got the ball to speedy winger Luzuko Vulindlu who raced 50 metres to score his team's first try.

Vulindlu showed great awareness to spot the men in yellow ambling to a line-out and called for a quick, short feed. Hooker Bismarck du Plessis duly obliged and the winger sprinted through untouched.

Frans Steyn's simple touchdown underneath the posts four minutes later was the result of poor fielding of an up-and-under by replacement full-back Tamati Ellison.

Both tries were converted by Kockott.

The two early strikes saw the Sharks take a 13-point lead and things were rolling smoothly on, but the Hurricanes weren't prepared to lay down and die - despite the massive challenge that lay ahead of them.

Just after the hour, the Hurricanes began applying mountains of pressure through waves of attacking phases. Winger Zac Guildford was eventually the man who got over for the try. Weepu made it 23-17 with his second conversion to suggest a nail-biting finish but the unpredictable Steyn kicked a drop goal shortly after to restore the advantage.

The Sharks defended in the red zone for the majority of the final 10 minutes, repelling incessant attacks before finally sealing the result when Jordaan punished the Hurricanes for failing to negotiate another up-and-under. The replacement winger simply scooped up the ball to cap an important win.