Cape Town - The Sharks scored late to earn a 21-20 Currie Cup win over Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.
The win means that the Durbanites have now won their last five fixtures in the tournament and they go to the top of the log, though the Free State Cheetahs can reclaim that spot if they beat the Golden Lions later in the day.
The Sharks had the perfect start when a dominant rolling maul resulted in referee Jaco Peyper awarding them a penalty try.
Province, though, hit back with two tries through Huw Jones and Jaco Coetzee to take the lead.
A try from Sharks hooker Franco Marais just before half-time meant that the visitors went into the break 17-14 down.
The second half saw the Sharks dominate territory, but they could not turn that pressure into points.
A penalty from Damian Willemse stretched the WP lead to 20-14, but when substitute Steph de Wit was sin-binned for the hosts on 70 minutes, the Sharks would have fancied their chances.
With five minutes to go, the Sharks finally got their reward when Inny Radebe went crashing over near the left touchline.
It left a tough conversion for Rhyno Smith, who showed good composure to add the extras and give his side a 21-20 lead.
Scorers:
Western Province 20 (17)
Tries: Huw Jones, Jaco Coetzee
Conversions: Damian Willemse (2)
Penalties: Willemse (2)
Sharks 21 (14)
Tries: Penalty try, Franco Marais, Inny Radebe
Conversions: Radebe, Rhyno Smith
Teams:
Western Province
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Substitutes: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Michael Kumbirai, 18 Eddie Zandberg, 19 Steph de Wit, 20 Justin Phillips, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Dan Kriel
Sharks
15 Inny Radebe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 S'bu Nkosi, 10 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ruan Botha (captain), 4 Jean Droste, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Juan Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Wian Vosloo, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Rhyno Smith, 22 Odwa Ndungane