A Sharks side that had three yellow cards in the last 20 minutes managed a 39-21 bonus point win over Exeter Chiefs in a frenetic Investec Champions Cup clash.
It was an absolute try fest in Durban with a whopping eight tries on the day. Five of those went to the hosts with Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi leading the way with a brace while Makazole Mapimpi, Phepsi Buthelezi and Grant Williams.
Jordan Hendrikse who started at fly-half and moved to full-back later on had much kicking practice with four conversions and two penalties.
The brave Exeter side showed tremendous passion and resilience with Dan Frost scoring a brace in the first half to keep them in the clash while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored off a delightful cross kick. Full-back Josh Hodge was brilliant with his kicking off the tee nailing all three conversions.
Ultimately the Sharks’ Springboks were the difference on the day and Exeter will be proud of their scrum in particular despite not bagging the result.
While the Durban clash was loaded with tries from either side it was not the same story in France where hosts Clermont muscled Benetton out of the game.
The Top14 side ran in four tries to the nill of Benetton with Peceli Yato and Barnabe Massa both scoring braces. Massa’s brace was scored in a seven-minute span just before half-time while Yato scored the first and last try of the game.
Meanwhile, Argentine Benjamin Urdapilleta kept it clean off the tee with a perfect four conversions for his side.
It certainly was not the start Benetton were looking for after their best-ever finish in Europe last season.
The teams
Sharks v Exeter
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Ethan Hooker, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Francois Venter
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen (c), 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Franco Molina, 4 Richard Capstick, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Will Becconsall, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Will Rigg
Clermont v Benetton
Clermont: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Lucas Tauzin, 13 Mathys Belaubre, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Ben Urdapilleta, 9 Sebastien Bezy, 8 Fritz Lee (c), 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Killian Tixeront, 5 Thomas Ceyte, 4 Peceli Yato, 3 Regis Montagne, 2 Barnabe Massa, 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements: 16 Etienne Fourcade, 17 Giorgi Akhaladze, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Anthime Hemery, 20 Alexandre Fischer, 21 Baptiste Jauneau, 22 Theo Giral, 23 Irae Simone
Benetton: 15 Leonardo Marin, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Simon Koroiyadi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza (c), 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Jacob Umaga
READ MORE: Nortje,
Visser fire as Blitzboks roast Ireland
Quewin Nortje and Impi Visser powered the Blitzboks to an excellent win at Cape Town Stadium in their opening match of the 2024 Cape Town Sevens tournament against Ireland.
Nortje and Visser scored two tries each to go with the opening try from David Brits and a second-half touchdown from replacement Mfundo Ndhlovu crusing the Blitzboks to a 36-7 win against Ireland.
The Blitzboks took a 24-0 lead into half time after an explosive start from Nortje, scoring two tries before the break.
Josh Costello’s breakaway put Ireland on the scoresheet while the tries from Ndhlovu and Visser sealed a dominant victory for South Africa in their first game of the tournament.
The Blitzboks return to action at 6:41pm when they face Argentina for their final pool match of the tournament.
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