It was not pretty to watch, but the Sharks finally overcame a strong Queensland defence to topple their old nemeses, the Queensland Reds, by five tries to four as they won their Super 14 rugby encounter 36-26 at the Absa Stadium on Saturday evening.
Both sides picked up a bonus point as a result of the nine tries scored.
As it was, the teams traded try for try over the first 60 minutes, with two of them coming in the first minutes to set a pattern that wiped out memories of the dour game of two years ago when the Reds won 6-5 in a match still ranks as the worst ever in the annals of the Super Series rugby competition.
The fourth, by flank Warren Britz, won a bonus point for the Sharks after prop Deon Carstens, wing Henno Mentz and flank AJ Venter had crossed the Reds line.
The Queensland side came back with three tries of their own, after each time the Sharks had scored, through hooker Stephen Moore, wing Caleb Brown (who was later sent to the sin bin with a yellow card) and flyhalf Berrick Barnes.
But they were only able to counter the late score by Ruan Pienaar that had all but settled the issue, with seven minutes left for play. That was when Brown ran through for a second try and a bonus point for the Queenslanders
On the night, however, the Sharks really never came to the party until late in the game after they had faced some brutal forward exchanges as the Reds the defended dourly. Their fluency on attack was often destroyed into scrambled play that led to too many errors.
Added to that, a lot of good ball was kicked away rather aimlessly at times.
The Reds defence was outstanding but a reckless tackle at a crucial stage cost them dearly when Peter Hynes was sent to the sin box. It led to the vital try by Venter that set the scoring pattern of the second half.
Referee Steve Walsh was also probably guilty of error when he did not apply the advantage rule. He disallowed a Tony Brown try chance as the flyhalf broke clear before being given an attacking penalty-goal chance instead. Walsh had blown his whistle for obstruction on the part of the Queensland side beforehand.
Full credit must go to Reds fullback Drew Mitchell, who was brave under fire as he saved many a dangerous situation with his astute positioning and brave approach.
Flyhalf Tony Brown kicked four conversions and a penalty while centre Julian Huxley replied with three conversions. — Sapa