Following the Sharks’ 36-21 away triumph over Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship encounter on Friday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.
The top line
There was plenty of action during the early stages of this game and after the Sharks lost their captain Andre Esterhuizen to a foot injury after just 52 seconds, Ethan Hooker scored the opening try in the second minute.
The home side struck back via a five-pointer from Josh Adams which was converted by Jarrod Evans but the rest of the half belonged to the visitors who were rewarded with tries from Matt Romao, who was excellent throughout, and Jason Jenkins with Gianni Lombard succeeding with one conversion, which meant they held a 17-7 lead at half-time.
Cardiff were fastest out of the blocks after the break and held a 21-17 lead midway through the half after James Botham scored a brace of tries but that was as good as it got for the Welsh region who went off the boil in the final quarter.
The Sharks were hungrier for the win and further tries from Thomas du Toit, Ethan Bester and Romao secured them a deserved bonus-point victory.
Sharks backs step up after Andre Esterhuizen injury
Esterhuizen was forced off the field with a foot injury after just 52 seconds which meant the men from Durban had to play virtually the entire match without their captain and arguably their most important player.
The loss of the Springboks star did not seem to affect the Durban-based outfit initially as they were rewarded with Hooker’s try shortly after his departure while Romao and Jenkins also dotted down down to give them a deserved lead at the interval.
With Esterhuizen on the sidelines, Hooker joined Jurenzo Julius in the centres and they stepped into the breach with aplomb as they took the fight to their opponents with a solid all-round display during the rest of the half.
Both looked dangerous with ball in hand while also doing their bit on defence before Julius was replaced by Siya Masuku at half-time. Despite that change and the loss of Esterhuizen, the rest of the Sharks’ backline all chipped in with solid showings during the rest of the match as they eventually clinched the result.
James Botham shines for Cardiff
Although Cardiff finished on the losing side, Botham caught the eye with an outstanding all-round effort and, if truth be told, he did not deserve to finish on the losing side in this fixture.
The Wales back-row emptied the tank on both sides of the ball as he took the fight to the Sharks for the entire game.
From the outset, the 28-year-old was in the thick of the action with his attacking efforts seeing him gaining 19 metres and he was rewarded with a brace of tries.
However, the openside flanker made his biggest impact on defence where he finished with a match-high 27 tackles and he also won two crucial turnovers.
Zekhethelo Siyaya is a special talent
The Sharks full-back is only 19 years old but he really is a special talent and he showed why he is so highly rated in South Africa as he came to the fore with an outstanding attacking display.
Siyaya proved a real handful with ball in hand and his combination of fancy footwork and blistering pace proved difficult to stop. In the 23rd minute, he set off on a mazy run and beat three defenders before crossing the whitewash but his effort was disallowed due to a handling error from Jason Jenkins in the build-up.
Midway through the second half he launched an up-and-under before giving chase and although he did not regather his kick, it caused chaos with Evans failing to deal with it. Ivan van Zyl gathered the ball and set off towards the tryline before being hauled in by the cover defence deep inside the home side’s 22. The damage was done, however, and after setting up some phases, Du Toit crossed for his try which saw the visitors take the lead again.
Siyaya eventually finished with a match-high 84 metres gained and his efforts were rewarded with the official man-of-the-match award.
Cardiff errors prove costly
After coming off second best during the early exchanges and trailing 7-17 at half-time, the home side did well to take control of proceedings and when Botham crossed for his second try, it looked like they were on their way to victory with the score 21-17 in their favour.
However, things imploded during the final quarter as Cardiff failed to kick on and lost their way in spectacular fashion as their game was littered with unforced errors and poor decision-making.
Despite Botham’s excellent performance, there were few other positives for the hosts during the final quarter and that allowed the Sharks to come back into the game and, ultimately, secure their win.
READ MORE: Springboks sweat over Andre Esterhuizen after Sharks captain forced off after 52 seconds