The Sharks secured a fifth consecutive victory over the Western Force when they hammered the men from Perth 53-11 in Durban on Saturday.

The Sharks outscored the Force by seven tries to one to secure a bonus point victory keeping their hopes of reaching the play offs alive.

Sharks winger Lwazi Mvovo scored two second half tries after they led 20-6 at half time.

The hosts led 20-6 at the break, thanks to scores from Steven Sykes and Paul Jordaan, before Mvovo's double added to tries from Louis Ludik, Craig Burden and Jacques Botes sealed an emphatic win that moved them up to sixth on the overall standings.

The Force, who remained third bottom, went in front after five minutes when Marcell Coetzee was penalised for not releasing completely allowing David Harvey to pop over.

An offside against Salesi Ma'afu allowed Patrick Lambie to hit straight back and level the scores.

But the hosts did not have to wait long for their opening five-pointer, which came after the ball was recycled nicely on the right, with Sykes picking up and marauding his way over under the post.

Lambie converted comfortably, with the Force then enjoying a strong spell of possession close to the Sharks' line before the half-hour mark.

Their reward was another penalty for Harris after Keegan Daniel stuck out a hand illegally.

But the response was an emphatic one from the men in black as Lambie took full advantage of a penalty advantage and broke free through the middle, before offloading to Jordaan for his first Super Rugby try.

Lambie made no mistake with the conversion, but missed a straightforward penalty and then scored another after David Pocock erred as the Sharks lead by 14 at the break.

That lead was extended to 21 straight after when Daniel's quick penalty saw him make 45 metres, before the ball made its way to Ludik, who cut inside expertly and ran in a third converted try.

And within five minutes of that score, Mvovo intercepted on his own 22-metre line and darted all the way down the left to grab the bonus-point try.

The Force momentarily threatened some points of their own after the kick-off, but Mvovo again haunted them as he controlled Alfie Mafi's wayward pass with his feet, before regathering and this time running from close to the 15-metre mark to score his 12th career try.

Replacement flyhalf Frederic Michalak knocked over the extras, with the Force's woes compounded on the hour after Locky McCaffrey was yellow carded for playing the man without the ball.

Burden and Botes then ran over converted tries from close-range against a tiring Australian outfit, who did manage a try of their own on the final whistle via winger Samu Wara, as the Sharks completed a comprehensive win.

Final Score Sharks 53 (20) Force 11 (6)

Sharks
Tries - S Sykes, T Whitehead, L.Ludik, L Mvovo 2, C Burden, J Botes
Pen - P Lambie 2
Con - P Lambie 2, F Michalak 5
Drop -
Cards - C Burden (78th min Yellow)

Force
Tries - S Wara
Pen - D Harvey 2
Con -
Drop -
Cards - Lachlan McCaffrey (60th min Yellow)

Match Officials
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant Ref 1:Joey Salmans
Assistant Ref 2:Cobus Wessels
TMO : Johann Meuwesen

Teams

Sharks

15. Louis Ludik, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Tim Whitehead, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Charl McLeod, 8. Keegan Daniel (c), 7. Marcell Coetzee, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Anton Bresler, 4. Steven Sykes, 3. Jannie du Plessis/Wiehahn Herbst, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Jannie du Plessis/Wiehahn Herbst, 18. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 19. Jean Deysel, 20. Ryan Kankowski, 21. Frederic Michalak, 22. Meyer Bosman.

Western Force

1 Pek Cowan,2 Nathan Charles,3 Salesi Ma'afu,4 Toby Lynn,5 Nathan Sharpe,6 Richard Brown,7 David Pocock (Captain),8 Matt Hodgson,9 Brett Sheehan,10 David Harvey,11 Napolioni Nalaga,12 Winston Stanley,13 Nick Cummins,14 Sam Wara,15 Alfie Mafi

Replacements :16 Elvis Taione,17 Salesi Manu,18 Phoenix Battye,19 Lachlan McCaffrey,20 Josh Holmes,21 Ben Seymour,22 Rory Sidey