United Rugby Championship: Sharks and Glasgow Warriors ease past Dragons and Zebre Parma in Friday’s action

The Sharks breezed past the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship meeting in Durban on Friday, winning 51-3 in a one-sided fixture.

What made the loss worse for the visitors was the sight of Ross Moriarty leaving the field after 30 minutes with what looks like a serious knee injury.

In what was his first game back since the Six Nations, it was unfortunately cut short as the Dragons went on to suffer a heavy defeat in South Africa.

Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Werner Kok touched down for the Sharks before a pair of penalty tries – both for deliberate knock-ons – and an Anthony Volmink touchdown carried the hosts beyond the half-century with the help of 17 points kicked by Curwin Bosch.

Bosch booted the Sharks into a 6-0 lead with a pair of penalties as the hosts dominated the early stages before Josh Lewis halved the deficit in the 16th minute.

The margin was back to six by the end of the first quarter thanks to another three points from Bosch’s boot, but the visitors were dealt a blow when Moriarty departed.

The Dragons conceded the game’s first try soon after he was replaced by Taine Basham, with Nche driving over under the posts.

Bosch added the extras and was on target again after Mbonambi touched down from a driving maul in the 33rd minute.

Kok carved a route through the Dragons defence as he embarked on an unstoppable run to go over seven minutes into the second half, with Bosch taking the score to 30-3.

The bonus point was in the bag for the Sharks when a deliberate knock-on by Lewis was punished with a penalty try and 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Lewis Jones committed the same offence with the same outcome only five minutes later, temporarily reducing the Dragons to 13 men and extending the Sharks’ lead further.