Sharks’ fullhouse trumps Benetton in hard-fought URC encounter

Durban - The Sharks’ smash-and-grab raid on the town of Treviso was a hard-fought success and they return home to Durban on Monday with a full house of United Rugby Championship points and the 29-7 win propels them into the top half of the overall rankings.

This was a one-off venture into the northern hemisphere, unlike the four-match marathon of November so the Sharks could empty the tank and at 21-0 at halftime, a rout seemed on the cards but they lost their way in the second half and had to dig deep to secure the bonus point try with just a minute remaining

The Sharks went into the match with the expectation that they would win given that 12 first-choice Benetton players were in Dublin preparing to play for Italy against Ireland on Sunday while the Sharks boasted a host of World Cup-winning Springboks, and they lived up to their billing to a large extent.

From the first whistle, you had the feeling that the Italians — not to mention their liberal sprinkling of South Africans — were hanging on and each time the Sharks got near the home 22, the tryline was either breeched or threatened.

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For instance, the Sharks’ first try was well constructed. From a solid set scrum in the seventh minute, Phepsi Buthelezi surged to the line and then a series of drives by the pack eventually saw big Ruben van Heerden spin through two tackles to score.

All eyes were on Curwin Bosch, who had been re-introduced into the starting lineup from the wilderness and tasked with both kicking goals and using his prodigious boot to ensure the Sharks played in favourable positions on the field.

He mostly got that spot on and one perfectly timed up-and-under was masterfully retrieved by wing Sbu Nkosi and from the resulting