Sharks shed off early jitters to power past competitive Glasgow Warriors

The Sharks restored South African pride in the United Rugby Championship when they went through the gears in beating the Glasgow Warriors 40-12 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

That the Sharks eventually wore down and showed the Warriors flames was down to their star quality on the bench, along with a brace from Anthony Volmink.

However, there's an inconsistency and defensive brittleness to this side that requires work as the season progresses.

That they're a good side is not in dispute and how they put away what was a very competitive Warriors out spoke of that.

The win, the first by a South African side this weekend after the Stormers drew at Osprey while the Lions lost at home to Ulster, not only earned them a bonus point through their five tries, but also moved them to fourth on the log.

Ulster, who beat the Sharks in one of the quarter-finals last season, lie in wait for the Sharks next week and as the Lions and most of the teams have learnt, they never go away.

They'll ask the Sharks pressing questions that'll require the hosts to be better, especially from a defensive perspective.

At 13-7, it may have looked like the Sharks deserved their lead, but the truth was far from that. They played with an element of disjointedness that for a team of that quality, remains a huge concern.

This playing disorganisation was evident in Tom Gordon's first try in the 14th minute where front rowers Thomas du Toit, Nthuthuko Mchunu and Kerron van Vuuren were very sluggish in wrapping around a ruck to close space on the blindside.

Gordon spotted the space and hared the 30-odd metres to score relatively untouched. The Sharks had taken the lead in the 13th minute through a Boeta Chamberlain penalty, but did nothing of note aside from