Christo Buchner

Durban - It was a Super Saturday for the Sharks.

Not only did they claim five valuable log points by beating the Lions by 27-3 in their Super Rugby contest, but the Crusaders and Reds did them a massive favour by defeating the Bulls and Stormers respectively.

The Sharks are now back in contention in the South African Conference, after being in danger of slipping further down the ladder.

Scrumhalf Charl McCleod scored a bonus point try with the last move of the game.

In his 200th match for the Sharks, Stefan Terblanche produced an outstanding performance.

However, it was a game littered with errors, with even the winning team looking a tad ugly at times.

The Lions played mind games with their team selection, and in the end it was Elton Jantjies, and not André Pretorius who started at flyhalf.

The decision to promote Jantjies backfired badly, with the flyhalf making numerous blunders within the first twenty minutes of the game, and looking completely out of his depth in the Sharktank.

The Sharks lead comfortably by 17-3 at halftime, scoring three tries in the first period. But, it was more a reflection of how poor the Lions performed, than the prowess of the home side.

Louis Ludik scored first for the Sharks against his old team, in what was surely one of his best games in a Sharks jersey.

The second try, by another former Lion, Willem Alberts, was started by a JP Pietersen brake from inside his own half, after the Lions meekly surrendered the ball.

The siren for halftime had already gone when Jacques-Louis Potgieter chipped a cross-kick into JP Pietersen’s hands for the winger to contemptuously shrug off replacement fullback Jaco Taute’s attempted tackle to score in the corner.