The Sharks are one bonus-point victory away from the Super Rugby play-offs after defeating fellow South Africans Northern Bulls 32-10 at Kings Park.
They host Central Cheetahs next Saturday in another South African derby and another bonus-point triumph will assure them of place in the knockout phase, possibly at the expense of title holders Queensland Reds from Australia.
Bulls can also qualify with a bonus-point home win over bottom-of-the-table Golden Lions while Western Stormers are set to top the South African conference and secure a bye into the semi-finals.
Sharks had to win the penultimate-round match to have any hope of finishing among the top six after the league phase of the southern hemisphere provincial championship and laid their victory foundations during the opening half.
Gaining the upper hand from the kick-off through their rampant pack, the Durban franchise scored two tries via Springboks Bismarck du Plessis (hooker) and JP Pietersen (right wing) to turn over 20-3 ahead.
A further try from flank and captain Keegan Daniel four minutes into the second half stretched the advantage to 22 points before three-time champions Bulls hit back with a try from full-back Zane Kirchner.
Fly half Morne Steyn converted to cut the deficit to 25-10 and the home team had to withstand wave after wave of attacks from the Pretoria franchise before breaking out to score the bonus-point fourth try two minutes from time.
Sharks won a line-out deep in Bulls territory and after several attempts to score were repulsed, scrum-half Charl McLeod threw a long pass to full-back Louis Ludik and he dived over for a try replacement back Meyer Bosman converted.
France fly half Frederic Michalak kicked two conversions and a penalty before retiring with an injured right shoulder on 73 minutes and inside centre Francois Steyn planted a 55-metre first-half penalty between the posts.
Sharks showed no ill effects of not having played since June 2 with the Durban team having a bye last weekend after a three-week break for the traditional mid-year Tests.
They won without several injured stars, including fly half Patrick Lambie, lock Steven Sykes and tearaway flank Willem Alberts, one of the stars when South Africa defeated England 2-0 in a three-Test series last month.
Daniel heaped special praise on Japan-bound number eight Ryan Kankowski, whose herculean efforts in a brutal physical battle earned him the the man of the match award.
"I am so proud of the boys - especially Ryan - and we are going to miss him when he goes overseas. This performance demonstrated that we have strength in depth," said an exhausted but smiling skipper.
Bulls captain and number eight Pierre Spies had no excuses: "We could never get going and the better team won. The Sharks were hungrier than us and we battled to get out of our half during the opening 40 minutes."
Sharks: 32 - Tries: B du Plessis, JP Pietersen, K Daniel, L Ludik. Cons: F Michalak 2, M Bosman. Pens: F Steyn, Michalak
Bulls: 10 - Try: Z Kirchner. Cons: M Steyn. Pen: Steyn
AFP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-rugby, south-africa First posted July 07, 2012 09:07:17