Two minutes into the second half, this United Rugby Championship (URC) was effectively settled by a ruthless Stormers side at a sunny Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
In enemy territory, the Capetonians blossomed into a full-scale marvel with a dominant performance that produced six tries to earn this important 46-19 bonus-point victory over the hapless Sharks.
The visitors went to the break with a healthy 17-point lead as a result of three tries by Herschel Jantjies, Ruben van Heerden, Joseph Dweba to one by the Sharks through Gerbrandt Grobler.
The Stormers came back from the break and Seabelo Senatla immediately crossed over for their fourth try of the afternoon that extended their advantage to 24 points and the Sharks never fully recovered.
Because of this impressive win, the Stormers have cemented their second spot on the standings behind leaders Leinster and ahead of Ulster, the Bulls and Glasgow Warriors who complete the top five.
The Sharks, who were without a number of Springboks such as Siya Kolisi, Thomas du Toit, Makazole Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Am, Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nché and Bongi Mbonambi, remain in eighth spot.
This is a performance that this group of players will want to forget in a hurry and they will have to make corrections with coach Neil Powell before their next match against the Lions.
Stormers coach John Dobson and the players will be happy with the away bonus point but will be disappointed that they allowed the Sharks to score two late tries by Dan Jooste and Grobler.
One of the star performers on the day for the Stormers was Mannie Libbok who ended his shift with 19 points and Gerbrandt Grobler who registered a brace of tries in a losing cause.
They scored first with Springbok scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies finding the gap to go down after he was put through by Libbok.
The home side continued to struggle to find their feet and the Stormers took advantage to increase their lead with their second try by Ruben van Heerden.
Clayton Blommetjies found the middle of the poles with the first conversion while Libbok was on point to give the Stormers a significant 14-point advantage inside 20 minutes.
Scoreboard pressure began to tell for the Sharks and from one of the penalties they conceded, Libbok increased the Stormers' lead as they tightened their grip on proceedings.
Just before the half-hour mark, the Stormers could have pulled away further but Libbok knocked the ball down on the edge of the try-line under pressure from Curwin Bosch.
It went from bad to worse for the Sharks as Joseph Dweba pummeled home the third try for the Stormers, that was converted by Libbok, from a well-executed driving maul.
The Sharks finally got their act together with Grobler registering their first try on the stroke of halftime that was converted by Bosch.
The Stormers continued to dominate the match and speedster Seabelo Senatla scored the bonus-point try that was easily converted by Libbok who was having a good day in the office from the kicking tee.
Later, 19-year-old Suleiman Hartzenberg benefited from an offload by an unselfish Senatla as they raced to a mammoth 31-point advantage early in the second half.
Libbok scored his try but strangely missed his conversion in front of the poles and Jooste and Grobler scored two late tries in quick succession to bring some respectability to the scoreline.
Scorers
Sharks (7) 19
Stormers (24) 46
Sharks
Tries: Gerbrandt Grobler (2), Dan Jooste; Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2);
Stormers
Tries: Herschel Jantjies, Ruben van Heerden, Joseph Dweba, Seabelo Senatla, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Manie Libbok; Conversions: Clayton Blommetjies (1), Manie Libbok (4); Penalties: Manie Libbok (2)
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