The Sharks have continued their winning streak as they defeated the Pumas in their Currie Cup encounter at Mbombela Stadium on Friday evening.
The Sharks won 24-10 after leading 12-10 at half-time.
The result means the men from Durban made it four from four to consolidate their position at the top of the league standings with 18 points.
Sharks flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain was in solid form as he slotted eight penalties to help extend the Sharks’ lead on the Currie Cup log.
Chamberlain, who was named Man of the Match, kicked four penalty goals in each half to seal the result.
Sharks coach Etienne Fynn made a few changes to the starting team that beat the Lions 45-31 in Johannesburg on 19 February, and his charges hardly skipped a beat in the early stages of the match.
The sole try of the match came in the first half thanks to Pumas’ Lungisa Anele with Tinus de Beer converting.
De Beer slotted a penalty for the Pumas but the Sharks continued to put pressure on the hosts.
Chamberlain was clinical from the tee as he scored all 24 points for the Sharks.
They put the home team’s scrum under pressure from early on, forcing a few penalties, while the Lowvelders also compounded matters by making several errors at the breakdown.
This allowed Chamberlain to use his kicking boot to good effect, landing four crisp penalty goal attempts to hand his side a deserved 12-0 lead at the halfway stage of the first half.
There’ll be no Currie Cup action next weekend as the Sharks travel to Loftus to face the Bulls on Wednesday, 16 March (20:00) while the Pumas will only be in action on Wednesday, 23 March when they take on the Western Province in Cape Town.
Try as they might, but the Pumas just could not get into the game, mainly as a result of several handling, scrum and breakdown errors.
Six minutes before the break Sharks inside centre Murray Koster was yellow carded for a high tackle and the hosts’ flyhalf, Tinus de Beer, slotted the easy penalty kick attempt for their first points.
The Lowvelders then scored a brilliant long-range try after the restart, from a turnover, when they ran the ball from inside their own 22. The ball changed hands several times by way of some deft offloads.
Speedy blindside flanker Anele Lungisa was on hand to take the final pass and dive over in the corner for a magnificent team try. De Beer nailed the conversion from the touchline to cut the visitors’ lead to 12-10 on the stroke of halftime.
However, Chamberlain continued with his kicking spree in the second half to punish the home side for their numerous mistakes, while the visitors’ defence held firm.
The Pumas’ set-piece and general play improved in the second half, however, the Sharks did enough to manage the game out successfully for their fourth win in a row.
Jovaza