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Cape Town - The Sharks, superb in their 42-5 win over the Lions at Ellis Park on Friday, were playing for Tendai Mtawarira.
The 33-year-old, known affectionately as 'Beast', made history in that match by becoming South Africa's most-capped Super Rugby player of all time.
Mtawarira, who was superb on the night, earned his 157th Super Rugby cap to move one ahead of former Bulls and Cheetahs hooker Adriaan Strauss.
Speaking after the match, Sharks coach Robert du Preez revealed how much of an impact Mtawarira's milestone had on his side's performance.
"The boys are very happy. I'm just so pleased that the boys did it for Beasty ... they really wanted to do it for him," Du Preez said.
"He is such an amazing person and the most humble person you will ever meet. He's an inspiration to all of his team-mates and at the end of the day the boys played for him."
It was arguably one of the better performances seen from a South African side this season, and Du Preez said it was due.
"It's been coming for a long time," he said.
"I thought our set pieces were outstanding and we didn't give away any silly penalties, which is something we've worked very hard on. The discipline of the boys was fantastic.
"They all played well ... from 1 to 23."
"The Lions are a quality side and I just think everything that we've worked on over the last seven weeks came together tonight.
"We know what we've been working on and we've got a great plan. I knew it was going to happen sometime."
Consistency, though, has been a problem for the Sharks for a couple of seasons now and Du Preez will want to ensure that the improvement continues.
"We don't want to maintain it, we want to get better," he said.
"It's about resetting on Monday and getting back to the basics again. The Jaguares are a great team."
The Sharks next face the Argentines on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15:05.
