Sharks down Pumas easily in a seven-try romp

The Sharks produced a clinical performance replete with seven tries as they thumped the Pumas 45-10 in their Currie Cup opener at Kings Park in Durban last night, sticking to their tried and tested game-plan of exerting pressure through the kicking game.

The error-prone Pumas had their moments, but made too many mistakes with ball in hand and really struggled against the Sharks’ aerial bombardment, allowing the home side to set up camp in their territory.

While the Sharks using their kicking game has become the norm, what was most impressive about their performance last night was the swarming, all-consuming defence that accompanied it.

The Sharks players were so quick off their line, and they harried and hassled the Pumas throughout, which was the main reason for the number of errors made by the visitors.

The tone was set in the ninth minute when centre Jeremy Ward charged down a sluggish clearing kick by fullback Devon Williams and dotted down the loose ball for the opening try.

Ward grabbed a brace of tries before halftime with a similarly opportunistic effort in the 23rd minute when tremendous defensive pressure resulted in the Pumas dropping the ball on their own line, the Sharks captain pouncing to put them 19-0 up.

A couple more maul tries gave the Sharks the security of a 31-3 lead at halftime and, even though their game was not as assured in the second half, the win was never in question.

It’s also safe to say Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi is back firing on all cylinders as he scored two dazzling tries as a second-half substitute.

The speedy Nkosi scored with his first touch in the 53rd minute, blazing through the defences to score and closed the scoring with an intercept try from from a scrum penalty,