OWING TO THE LATE KICKOFF, A REPORT ON THE BOKS WILL ONLY APPEAR IN LATER EDITIONS

Province man, Whitehead had a series of injuries, left Durban and has resurfaced in Port Elizabeth. He was one of the better backs on the field and will be key for the Kings in Super Rugby, as will flyhalf George Whitehead, the former Grey College pupil who has made his home in PE and scored a dazzling solo try in the 13th minute.

It was promptly matched by an equally good try by the Sharks just two minutes later.

A cross kick towards the EP corner flag by flyhalf Lionel Cronje on the openside touchline saw Esterhuizen pluck the ball out of the air and crash down amid the defenders. The fine finishing that illuminated long periods of mediocre play kept coming.

EP had barely kicked off when a Sharks attack from inside their half led to Joe Pietersen, who was racing down the touchline, delivering an immaculately timed inside pass to Cronje for a superb seven-pointer.

At the half-hour mark, Pietersen penalties had boosted the Sharks into what should have been a comfortable 18-5 lead.

But after the half-time hooter, Sharks No 8 Philip van der Walt was yellow carded for a professional foul near his line. EP opted for a scrum, and No 8 Tim Agaba duly scored off the back of an advancing set scrum.

Three minutes into the second half Sykes scored a memorable try on his former home ground, spinning out of several attempted tackles to get the crucial first score after halftime, and it was all the more a boost for the Kings, because they had scored in the last movement of the first half.

That 12-point burst grew by another seven points when scrum-half Enrico Acker dived over after a charge to the line by the consistently impressive Agaba. The Kings’ 22-18 lead would have been substantially more had they had the services of a decent kicker.

And the squandering of conversion opportunities meant the Sharks regained the lead in the 55th minute, when Du Preez crowned a convincing performance with a bulldozing effort over the line from close quarters.

The Sharks’ 23-22 lead lasted a minute. George Whitehead could not miss with an effort in front of the Sharks posts and the Kings were back in front at 25-23. The tug-of-war then went the way of the Sharks, with Pietersen kicking his team into a tenuous 26-25 lead.

And then came some magic from Jordaan, who made the most of quick ball from replacement scrum-half Michael Claassen that saw Pietersen running on to the ball at pace and unleashing Jordaan. SCORERS Sharks: Tries: André Esterhuizen, Lionel Cronjé, Dan du Preez, Paul Jordaan. Conversions: Joe Pietersen (2). Penalties: Pietersen (3).

EP Kings: Tries: George Whitehead, Tim Agaba, Steven Sykes, Enrico Acker. Conversion: Scott van Breda. Penalty: Whitehead

Western Province eked out a 9-3 victory over Free State in a game played in a downpour at Newlands.

Fewer than 11 000 attended the game and witnessed three penalties from the boot of Demetri Catrakilis being sufficient to beat the Cheetahs, for whom Fred Zeilinga kicked a three-pointer. – Own reporter