Staff Reporter.
The Sharks moved into the top eight in the United Rugby Championship standings after a thrilling 22-19 win over Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Rugby Stadium on Saturday.
They went into the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match without a horde of rested Springboks, including Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Lukhanyo Am and Jaden Hendrikse but nonetheless produced a clinical performance that included remarkable tenacity in a brilliant defensive effort.
In a back-and-forth game in which both teams committed to throwing the ball around and showed a willingness to run from deep, it was the Durbanites who sneaked into a narrow lead and then rolled up their sleeves to defend it.
The visitors raced to 14-point lead inside the first 20 with tries from scrumhalf Grant Williams and winger Marnus Potgieter before Edinburgh scored 19 unanswered points through a brace from hooker Adam Mcburney and a try from Grey College old boy, fullback Henry Immelman.
Williams opened the scoring dotting down from halfway, demonstrating his electrifying pace after a well-read intercept before Potgieter made the numerical advantage count as his opposite Wes Goosen was sent to the naughty chair allowing him to canter over.
Mcburney grabbed his first of the evening after some slick handling from the forwards and then crashed over after a slick maul.
Immelman’s try, capping off a long-range counter-attack for a 19-14 lead at the break, marked the Scottish side’s final points of the match.
Flyhalf Curwin Bosch closed the gap to two points immediately after the restart with a penalty right in front before the forwards demonstrated their power up front as hooker Kerron Van Vuuren crossed the whitewash off the back of the maul, setting up an exciting final quarter with the visitors leading 22-19.
Edinburgh thought the game was theirs when replacement prop Carlu Sadie was sent to the sin bin as they began to batter the Sharks defence again and again. However, the visitors were resilient, determined to hold their line in the face of multiple penalties awarded to the hosts, and the game eventually ended with Immelman knocking on in the 87th minute five metres from the Sharks try line.
Meanwhile Ulster gained some revenge for their two tight defeats to the DHL Stormers in last year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship by beating the champions 35-5 at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Friday night.