The Sharks scored six tries in their 45-10 win over the Sunwolves at the Singapore National Stadium on Saturday.
The men in black will be happy at having picked up maximum points but will realize that this was a far from complete performance and that they have many areas to work on.
The Sunwolves, though, began brightly when Shane Gates collected a neat chip from Hayden Parker to race away for the opening try after a Robert du Preez-penalty. They looked to take the game to their opponents, but were often let down by poor execution and decision-making.
Parker added to his side’s tally with a penalty of his own but the Durbanites hit back with tries through Akker van der Merwe, Dan du Preez and Sbu Nkosi to lead 24-10 at the break.
While the Sharks did enjoy the majority of territory and possession in the second-half, they were haunted by basic errors which ultimately cost them at crucial times. The match began to descend into something of a scrappy affair with both teams struggling with early-season rustiness.
Nevertheless, Makazole Mapimpi picked up where the Sharks left off after halftime when he finished well in the corner with limited space before van der Merwe grabbed his second; again from a driving maul.
The three-time finalists exploited a tiring Sunwolves defence late on, with replacement centre Jeremy Ward rounding off the scoring.
Point Scorers:
Sunwolves
- Pen: Parker
- Try: Gates
- Con: Parker
- Yellow card: James Moore
Sharks
- Pens: R du Preez
- Tries: van der Merwe (2), D du Preez, Nkosi, Mapimpi, Ward
- Cons: R du Preez (5), Smith
Teams:
Sunwolves
15 Gerhard van den Heever, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Shane Gates, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Ed Quirk, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 James Moore, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Asaeli Valu, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Craig Millar (captain)
Substitutes: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Awe Helu, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Michael Little
Sharks
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (captain), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Phendulani Buthelezi, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Rhyno Smith, 23 Jeremy Ward
Written by Shaun Goosen for Hollywoodbets
