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Sharks outmuscle Lions in Durban downpour

Cape Town - The Sharks retained their unbeaten status in the Currie Cup when they secured a 37-21 win over the Golden Lions in Durban on Saturday.

The home side dominated for long periods although it took them some time to get going as wet weather made handling and underfoot conditions difficult.

They eventually outscored the Golden Lions by four tries to three and Robert du Preez finished with a 17-point haul courtesy of four conversions and three penalties.

The Sharks opened the scoring in the third minute via a Robert du Preez penalty but the visitors struck back in the eighth minute when Sylvian Mahuza had an easy run-in for the opening try after gathering a perfectly weighted crossfield kick from Shaun Reynolds.

Reynolds added the extras but that would be the last time the visitors would trouble the scorers during the opening period as the Sharks would dominate the rest of the half.

Du Preez added two further penalties which would give his side a 9-7 lead midway through the half.

In the 24th minute, Kobus van Wyk gathered a pass from Curwin Bosch on the Lions' 22-metre line and set off on superb run, in which he beat three defenders, before offloading to Dan du Preez, who crossed for the home side's first try.

10 minutes later, Du Preez turned provider and after gathering the ball at the back of a scrum on the Lions' five-metre line, he offloaded to Louis Schreuder, who dotted down despite the attentions of two defenders.

Four minutes later, things went from bad to worse for the men from Johannesburg when Marvin Orie was yellow carded for foul play after an off-the-ball incident with Hyron Andrews.

And just before half-time, Luke Stringer extended the Sharks' lead when he barged over from close quarters after Dan du Preez was stopped close to the try line in the build-up.

Robert du Preez converted all three tries which meant the home side held a comfortable 30-7 lead at half-time.

The Sharks continued to dominate after the break and secured their bonus-point try in the 49th minute when Schreuder threw an inside pass to Dan du Preez, who crossed for his second try from close range.

The Lions were more competitive during the rest of the match and on the hour-mark James Venter scored their second try off the back of a lineout drive deep inside Sharks territory.

In the 75th minute, Wandisile Simelane did well to boot the ball upfield and beat Sbu Nkosi in a foot race before diving on the ball behind the home side's tryline to add some respectabilty to the final score.

Scorers

Sharks 37

Tries: Dan du Preez (2), Louis Schreuder, Luke Stringer

Conversions: Robert du Preez (4)

Penalties: Du Preez (3)

Golden Lions 21

Tries: Sylvian Mahuza, James Venter, Wandisile Simelane

Conversions: Shaun Reynolds (3)

Teams:

Sharks

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (captain), 1 Juan Schoeman 

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Ruben van Heerden, 19 Jacques Vermeulen, 20 Cameron Wright, 21 Sbu Nkosi, 22 Aphelele Fassi

Golden Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Ross Cronje (captain), 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Len Massyn, 6 James Venter, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Sti Sithole

Substitutes: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Reinhard Nothnagel, 19 Driaan Bester, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Gianni Lombard, 22 Wandisile Simelane

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