Sharks slip through the net to nip Waratahs

The Sharks, teetering on the edge of a competition-ending defeat, staged a spirited second-half revival to beat the Waratahs in their Super Rugby game last night.

The Sharks, down to 14 men, trailed 13-21 with 30 minutes remaining before their strong finish took them to safety and revived their competition ambitions. They climbed to fifth on the log following this win, their first over the Waratahs in five outings.

Relieved Sharks captain John Smit said he was delighted with the performance and the character shown by his team in the second half, while Waratahs captain Dean Mumm said "indiscipline and the failure to take our chances" had cost his team the chance of victory.

It was a far more convincing showing by the Sharks, with flyhalf Pat Lambie, wing JP Pietersen and No8 Keegan Daniel outstanding.

While the Sharks played most of the rugby, and deserved their win, they will still rue the many basic errors that cost them points and territory.

The Waratahs suffered a late setback when Berrick Barnes withdrew. He was replaced by Daniel Halangahu at flyhalf.

The Sharks again started untidily, making several handling errors and conceding an early penalty to Kurtley Beale. The Waratahs almost scored again from the kick-off as they booted the ball deep into Sharks territory, but new scrumhalf Conrad Hoffman chased back to rescue the situation.

Sharks flyhalf Lambie brought the crowd of 22 000 to life after 10 minutes when he ran at opposite number Halangahu, shrugged off the tackle and darted 20m to the line. His conversion took the Sharks ahead 7-3.

Beale and Lambie traded penalties for the Sharks to lead 10-6 after the first quarter and, with the passes suddenly starting to stick, they found some of their old attacking rhythm, if not the slick finishing.

The Sharks spoilt a strong second-half start by making a string of basic errors compounded by centre Meyer Bosman missing a tackle on Halangahu that saw the flyhalf run through to score. Beale converted and moments later added a penalty when Sharks flank Jean Deysel was yellow-carded for foul play.

The Sharks, down to 14 men and trailing 21-13 just 10 minutes into the second half, were under pressure.

But they responded with a spectacular score by wing JP Pietersen, who ran 65m for a try. Lambie converted and the Sharks trailed by one point.

The Waratahs made a spirited response and wing Sosene Anesei, chasing a Beale kick into the Sharks' in-goal area, knocked the ball on.

Sharks flank Keegan Daniel could have settled the game with five minutes remaining when he broke strongly from a scrum, but he ignored his support 5m out and was penalised for holding. It was left to Lambie to complete the scoring in the 79th minute with his fourth penalty.

SCORERS

Sharks 26 - Tries: Pat Lambie, JP Pietersen. Conversions: Lambie (2). Penalties: Lambie (4).

Waratahs 21 - Tries: Lachie Turner, Daniel Halangahu. Conversions: Kurtley Beale. Penalties: Kurtley Beale (3).