The Sharks ended their tour of Australia and New Zealand with a 23-33 victory over Queensland’s Reds at Suncorp stadium in Brisbane.
The Sharks outscored the Reds by four tries to three in the match to end the Reds run of two consecutive wins at home.
The Reds went into the match having won their last two matches against the Sharks as they beat the Sharks 28-26 in Brisbane and then 21-14 in Durban last year.
Discipline cost both sides but the Sharks ended the match having conceded 14 penalties compared to the Reds 9.
In defensive statistics, the Reds missed 12 of their 72 tackles while the Sharks missed 7 from 118.
Both teams put themselves on the scoreboard with penalty kicks in the opening six minutes of the match.
The Sharks were the first to cross the tryline when hooker Kerron van Vuuren was driven over after a 22 metre rolling maul came from a line out.
The Reds soon hit back though as three minutes later Henry Speight scored for the hosts after being set up for the try by Wallabies star James O’Connor.
The try was Speight’s 48th Super rugby career try and levelled the scores at 8-all.
Reds fullback Jock Campbell added a penalty before half time to give the Reds an 11-8 half-time advantage.
The Sharks were much improved in the second half and flanker Dylan Richardson crashed over for his first Super rugby try just five minutes after the break.
Again though the Reds hit back as Tate McDermott caught the Sharks napping on the 5m line and darted through for a try following a scrum.
However Sharks playmaker Curwin Bosch kicked two long range penalties which took the pressure of the Sharks before the captain Lukhanyo Am picked off an intercept try for the visitors.
The Sharks went even further ahead when Madosh Tambwe raced down the wing and scored giving the Durban side a 17 point lead with the conversion.
The match went 8 minutes into extra time and this allowed the Reds to score a consolation try after the Sharks lost Lwazi Mvovo to the sin-bin.
“It was a great win, a great effort from the boys. Credit to the forwards.”
“They put us on the front foot,” said Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am.
“We’re really happy with the results, the Sharks are a team that travels well.”
The match is the last on the Sharks tour of Australasia which also saw them beat the Highlanders and Rebels but lose to the Hurricanes.
The Sharks return home now to Durban where as they host the Jaguares next week while the Reds face the daunting task of travelling to Christchurch to play the Crusaders.
Final Score Reds 23 (11) Sharks 33 (8)
Scorers
Reds
Tries – H.Speight, T,McDermott, E.Craig
Pen -J.Campbell 2
Con -J.Campbell
Drop –
Cards –
Sharks
Tries – K. van Vuuren, D.Richardson, L.Am, M.Tambwe
Pen – C.Bosch 3
Con – C.Bosch 2
Drop –
Cards – L.Mvovo (87th min yellow)
Match Officials
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
Assistant Ref 1:Graham Cooper
Assistant Ref 2:Jordan way
TMO: James Leckie
Teams
15 Jock Campbell, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Hunter Paisami, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Henry Speight, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Liam Wright (captain), 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Harry Hockings, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Alex Mafi, 1 JP Smith
Replacements: 16 Ed Craig, 17 Harry Hoopert, 18 Josh Nasser, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Fraser McReight, 21 Scott Malolua, 22 Isaac Lucas, 23 Filipo Daugunu
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Lukhanyo Am (c), 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Dylan Richardson, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:16 Craig Burden, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Jeremy Ward