The Sharks recorded a narrow 27-25 bonus-point victory over the Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Friday night to consolidate their position at the top of the Currie Cup standings.
The Durban outfit, who led 15-8 at half-time, recorded their seventh successive victory in the competition to put themselves in a good position to host a home semi-final next month.
The Sharks have now accumulated 34 points from their eight matches but they have difficult run in as they are still to play against the Griquas and traditional rivals Bulls, Lions and Western Province in their remaining matches.
Sharks’ four tries were scored by Sbusiso Nkosi, Jeremy Ward, Wihan Vosloo and Rhyno Smith with Springboks fly-half Curwin Bosch scoring one conversion and penalty and Garth April slotting the other conversion.
The home side managed three tries from the efforts of Ruwellyn Isbell, JP Lewis, Hennie Skorbinski while their reliable kicker Kobus Marais scored two conversions and as many penalties as they suffered their sixth loss of the season.
In the other match played on Friday night, Golden Lions were made to work hard for their 34-17 bonus-point win over the Griquas at Griqua Park in Kimberley to register their third win of the season.
The victory lifted the Lions from the foot of the table to third spot and it has refreshed their semi-final hopes while the Griquas have dropped to the bottom.
The Lions, who have registered their second win on the spin, led 24-0 at half-time and they added ten more points after the break despite Griquas’ efforts to mount a strong comeback.
Lions tries were scored by Cyle Brink, Kwagga Smith, Marco Janse van Vuuren in the first half and one from Harold Vorster after the break with Jaco van der Walt putting away four conversions and two penalties.
On the other hand, Griquas’ two tries were scored by Kyle Steyn and Adriaan Coertzen which were converted by George Whitehead who also scored their only penalty of the match.
- TimesLIVE
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