Cape Town - The Sharks capitalised on an ill-disciplined Waratahs side to get back to winning ways in their opening Australasian tour clash at the Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta on Saturday.
As it happened: Waratahs v Sharks
Despite making heavy weather at times of their numerical advantage, the Sharks won 23-15 after the scores were tied at 10-all at half-time.
The Waratahs were reduced to 13 men in the second half after a red card was brandished to lock Jed Holloway as early as the 45th minute and Jack Dempsey compounded matters for the home side with a yellow card shortly thereafter.
While the Sharks also lost prop Thomas du Toit for a 10-minute spell in the sin-bin in the same skirmish that led to Holloway's early shower, the visitors displayed a distinct lack of patience in taking control of the second stanza.
In fact it was the Waratahs who looked more dangerous on several occasions as Curwin Bosch in particular left his kicking boots in the hotel with a couple of straight-forward missed kicks at posts and the Sharks' handling skills stunted their momentum.
Nevertheless, the victory will be welcomed by under fire Sharks coach Robert du Preez and will keep his critics at bay for at least another week.
The Sharks scored two tries through No 8 Daniel du Preez and centre Andre Esterhuizen, while Bosch added both conversions and three penalties.
The Waratahs replied with tries by scrumhalf Jake Gordon and flyhalf Bernard Foley who was also on target with a conversion and penalty.
The Sharks picked up four points for their victory and moved to the top of the congested South African Conference and into second place in the Overall log.
The Waratahs left empty-handed and stayed second and eighth in the Australian Conference and Overall standings, respectively.
In next weekend's Round 12 action, the Waratahs travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls (Saturday, May 4 at 15:05), while the Sharks travel to Christchurch to tackle the Crusaders (Friday, May 3 at 09:35 SA time).
Teams:
Waratahs
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Cam Clark, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Jed Holloway, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Harry Johnson-Holmes
Substitutes: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Rory O’Connor, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Lachlan Swinton 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Lalakai Foketi, 23 Alex Newsome
Sharks
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Tendai Mtawarira (captain)
Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Ruan Botha, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Marius Louw
