Ruthless Sharks surf to Euro quarters
07/04/2024 18:16
The Sharks put seven tries past Italian minnows Zebre in Durban on Sunday to earn a comfortable passage through to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Having taken a 21-3 lead into half-time, the Sharks eased to a 47-3 victory at Kings Park as John Plumtree’s side kept up their hopes of capping a difficult season with some silverware.
@SharksRugby ran in 𝑺𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 tries as they advanced to the #ChallengeCupRugby quarter-finals!
The instant highlights are available to watch right now!
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) April 7, 2024
The Sharks will host Edinburgh in the quarter-finals in Durban, having recently beaten the Scottish side in the Vodacom URC.
Flyhalf Tiff Eden opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty for Zebre’s only points of the afternoon in a challenging match for the URC’s current wooden spoonists.
From there, the game belonged to the Sharks, who, even without the services of injured Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth, made easy metres and dominated the game, forcing Zebre to make 126 tackles.
Vincent Tshituka quickly responded for the Sharks, a minute after Eden slotted his penalty, and was followed over the tryline by Werner Kok and young lock Corne Rahl, who showed his potential by impressively standing in for Etzebeth.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks look good with 20 minutes to play
You just cannot stop the big 21-year-old from there
Stream #SHAvZEB live: https://t.co/bDeiretgWPpic.twitter.com/kXpXS33BbG
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 7, 2024
Any hopes Zebre had of mounting a second-half comeback were quickly snuffed out as Aphelele Fassi dotted down for the Sharks’ fourth try.
Phepsi Buthelezi and Ethan Hooker grabbed a try each as the Sharks were relentless with the ball, before Curwin Bosch rounded off the scoring with a self-converted try from the bench.
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
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