Cool-hand Curwin Bosch lights up flawed Sharks victory over clueless Lions

Curwin Bosch's newfound maturity and understated consistency had been a talking point in the build-up to the Sharks' trip to Ellis Park and it duly proved an instrumental factor in the Durbanites' vital if flawed 29-7 URC victory over a clueless Lions combination on Saturday.

It's true that this performance won't do much to quell sceptics who'll still believe that Neil Powell's squad is lopsided in terms of its first-choice resources and the rest of the depth, but the eventual scoreline was more than comfortable to at least suggest a gulf in class with the hosts.

Warning lights are now flashing blindingly in Doornfontein, the promise of a good start to the season a distant memory.

Tellingly, the Lions desperately require a comprehensive investigation into what is going wrong.

The answers are apparent, but not necessarily clear-cut.

RECAP | Lions 7-29 Sharks

For 55 minutes, the Lions dominated this match in every aspect but the scoreboard.

Dozens of opportunities were created with an approach resembling a power game of sorts, an ideal one for the damp conditions on the Highveld.

But for the majority of this campaign, the Lions have lacked any sort of attacking finesse and variation to capitalise on those chances.

When that's combined with basic handling errors, wayward set-pieces and poor support play at attacking rucks or mauls, it culminates into an ultimately impotent showing like this one.

They have promising youngsters within the ranks like Emmanuel Tshituka and Ruan Venter, who surely need to form the spine of future combinations along with injured stars Francke Horn, Jordan Hendrikse and Henco van Wyk.

However, the proven class of men like Jaco Kriel, Ruan Dreyer and the absent Andries Coetzee are few and far between.

And,