Sharks beat Highlanders 38-12

The Sharks boosted their Super Rugby shares with a superb all-round display as they hammered the Highlanders 38-12 at Kings Park on Saturday, forwards and backs performing equally well in a bonus point win that lifted them into the playoff places.

The forwards laid the foundation for the win with a dominant display in the set-pieces and their physicality in the tackle and collisions, while the backs were slick and clinical, combining the astute use of kicks with some marvellous handling and tremendous running lines.

Inside centre Andre Esterhuizen was a well-deserved man of the match. After blotting his copybook early on by dropping the ball over the goal-line after running straight into sturdy wing Waisake Naholo, Esterhuizen was imperious. He held the defensive line together with a typical display of staunch physicality in his channel, but he also showed deft hands and good judgement when it came to deciding whether to offload or hang on to the ball. Some of the support lines he ran were also sheer genius.

• The Highlanders were troubled by the kicking game of the Sharks. After their first kick was knocked-on, Cameron Wright clearing after the home side had dealt with the kickoff in rather scrappy fashion, the scrumhalf quickly put in another box-kick, which was claimed by lock Ruan Botha, who fed hooker Akker van der Merwe, who had the pace to speed away for the first try in the opening minute.

From then on the Sharks gained plenty of traction from the boots of Wright, flyhalf Robert du Preez, fullback Curwin Bosch and even Esterhuizen. By way of contrast, two of the Sharks’ tries, by slick-finishing wing Makazole Mapimpi and Robert du Preez were set up Bosch fielding wayward kicks and then displaying his superb attacking skills.

• The tremendous defensive effort by the Sharks meant they were able to govern the gainline through the sheer physicality of their forwards. This meant the Highlanders were always under pressure whenever they had possession and they made uncharacteristically many handling errors.
• Outside centre Lukhanyo Am shares some of the physicality of his midfield partner Esterhuizen and is a strong defender, but he also reads the game superbly and runs great lines. He played a key role in the try early in the second half that stretched the Sharks’ lead to 24-7, getting the tap down by Mapimpi from Robert du Preez’s long pass out wide, racing through and then passing inside to eighthman Dan du Preez for a classy try that was the highlight of his brilliant individual performance.
• There was fantastic cohesion and direction to the Sharks play and much of the credit for that must go to scrumhalf Wright. He always seemed to know exactly where he wanted the ball to go, his passing was slick and he used the boot well too. Wright was also often found in cover-defence.

Points scorers

Sharks: Tries – Akker van der Merwe, Makazole Mapimpi, Dan du Preez, Sbu Nkosi, Robert du Preez. Conversions: R. du Preez (5). Penalty: R. du Preez.

Highlanders: Tries – Dillon Hunt, Teihorangi Walden. Conversion: Lima Sopoaga