Magical Manie has rabbits by the ears as ruthless Stormers thrash hapless Sharks

South Africa's first coastal derby of the current URC season was, unwittingly so, billed as the match that was going to determine who between the Sharks and Stormers are most capable of absorbing the absence of their myriad Springboks.

By late Saturday afternoon, a stunned King's Park faithful had to concede that it's definitely not their side.

In emphatically winning 46-19, John Dobson's troops showcased that they're undeniably still the team to beat in the South African shield, let alone that they'll give up their title from last year.

RECAP | URC - Sharks v Stormers

They had come into this skirmish with the mental scars of a bruising 5-35 loss to Ulster, the absence of their regular national players and then the late withdrawal of Hacjivah Dayimani.

None of those inconveniences were apparent.

As early as the second minute, Manie Libbok - a high-profile returnee - stamped what would be his considerable authority on the match with a magical sleight of hand, first fielding poor kick from Thaakir Abrahams and then dummying past a flailing Hyron Andrews arm to set Herschel Jantjies up with the opening score.

He would cross the whitewash on his own in the third quarter when he feasted on an errant, ill-conceived off-load by the Durbanites' replacement pivot Lionel Cronje though that score felt like a mere bonus for the work they'd put in between.

The irony about the Stormers' performance was that they were generally starved of ball - 38% - and even found themselves pinned in their own half - 36% territory - but were never in trouble because when they were in a position to strike, they did so with ruthless efficiency.

Ruben van Heerden, making a triumphant return to his old hunting ground, made full use of a delightful inside pass