The Sharks, needing a full house of five points to be sure of an away semifinal berth, made sure when they convincingly beat the Valke — their old Red Devils nemesis — by 48 points to 10 and seven tries to one in their Absa Currie Cup rugby match in Durban on Saturday.
And later it was reported that defending champions Free State will be their hosts in Bloemfontein next Saturday.
Their first points came by way of a comfortable penalty to flyhalf Francois Steyn after six minutes, matched two minutes later by one from Valke’s flyhalf Louis Strydom.
The first Sharks try was as easy as any they got all season with the ball moving swiftly down the from left to right, leaving the Valke defence in tatters as centre Waylon Murray cut inside for a converted seven pointer.
It was all the Sharks needed and within 60 seconds wing Odwa Ndungane sprinted unchallenged for converted try number two and a healthy 17-3 lead after 15 minutes. Although the Sharks were the more lively over the next quarter, their execution of set moves broke down far too often with the ball in hand being spilled at crucial moments.
However, eight minutes before the break fullback JP Pietersen and Ndungane combined on the right for try number three to the Sharks with Steyn’s conversion attempt rebounding off the right-hand upright.
And the bonus point was secure three minutes later when left wing Adrian Jacobs broke the Valke defensive line with Steyn converting and then it was three tries in six minutes as Steyn scored and converted before the break.
At half time it was 36-3 and the necessary points in the bag.
After the break, the Valke scored an unexpected try through wing Riaan Viljoen on a breakaway from a midfield error.
Brent Russell was introduced and immediately his twinkle-toe speed off the mark all but brought him a score.
The Valke cause was not helped any when referee Mark Lawrence yellow-carded wing Mpho Matasaung.
Try number six for the Sharks came soon afterwards as number eight Ryan Kankowski spirited through the Valke ranks and Steyn converted.
Then a spilt pass on the Sharks line gave Russell a second chance in an 80m dash and he was unchallenged as he crossed the line for his name to appear on the scoreboard yet again.
Play was held up with five minutes left when paramedics attended to an injured Valke player who left the field with his neck in a precautionary brace.
Province thump Griquas
Western Province (WP) booked their place in the semifinals of the Currie Cup with a 55-17 (half-time 31-3) thumping of Griquas at Newlands on Saturday.
Apart from the first 10 minutes when they found themselves on the back foot after failing to control the kick-off and to clear their line from a penalty, WP were absolutely dominant.
Griquas could not cope with the individual brilliance of WP’s backline players and the return of Werner Greeff to the home side’s midfield has clearly come as a big boost at the business end of the Currie Cup.
Greeff was the creative influence that got the scoreboard rolling as he sliced his way through the midfield and floated a pass out wide to Egon Seconds, who fed Joe Pietersen for the first try after 11 minutes.
Griquas flyhalf Conrad Barnard replied with a penalty in the 17th minute, but for the rest of the half it was all WP as they set about securing their place in the play-offs.
Centre Corne Uys scored the first of his two tries as he sliced through the Griquas midfield and cut inside to beat two more defenders to finish under the posts.
Left wing Egon Seconds also ran in for a brace — the first try coming after WP turned over a Griquas scrum that had been robbed of lock Lodie Britz, who was off with a yellow card.
Seconds’ second came from a well-executed backline move and he benefited after some good work by Sireli Naqelevuki and Pietersen on his inside. Uys completed his brace a minute before half-time when he collected from right wing Naqelevuki, who had run onto scrumhalf Bolla Conradie’s chip.
Province were less impressive in the second half, but the hard work had already been done.
Griquas fullback Tiger Mangweni got over for the first of their two tries six minutes into the second half, but it took WP only two minutes to muster a reply with an outstanding individual effort by flank and captain Luke Watson.
Watson had another of those games that left egg on Springbok coach Jake White’s face for his stubborn refusal to pick him. He also made WP’s last try with a turnover close to his own line and a kick that replacement Paul Delport ran onto for the score.
Before that Naqelevuki and replacement Sarel Potgieter had also got in on the act.
Griquas finished well enough with loosehead prop Eugene van Staden powering his way over for the final act of their campaign.
However, the day belonged to WP in every way and provided them with the perfect confidence boost before the semifinals. — Sapa