Flyhalf Blair Kinghorn crossed for two tries as Edinburgh punished a sloppy Sharks performance in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Durban on Saturday.
Commencing in torrential rain, every tackle ended in a splash of water. While this would have been greeted by the touring Scots as a welcome slice of home, Sharks fans had reason to believe the conditions were perfect for their Springbok-laden pack and ace-kicker Curwin Bosch.
Indeed, a slippery ball fed the Sharks’ Test front row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit with numerous opportunities to scrum, and they duly converted these into penalties. But Bosch failed emphatically to deliver on the expectation that he would take control of the game through the air.
The Sharks flyhalf pulled two attempts at goal, and kicked one penalty touch in-goal while another fell short. The result of these unforced errors released the pressure on Edinburgh, who made the Sharks pay by converting their opportunities into three tries.
The visitors scored the only points of the first half after Sharks centre Marius Louw was sin-binned for what was deemed a dangerous tackle and Kinghorn, back from Six Nations duty for Scotland, scythed through the line to score a try with fullback Emiliano Boffelli adding the first of three conversions.
It’s a tight @Vodacom #URC clash between the Cell C Sharks and Edinburgh in a soaking wet Durban with only one try being scored by the visitors in the first half for a 7-0 lead @URCOfficial_RSA @SharksRugby @EdinburghRugby pic.twitter.com/sdpG0iS6tL
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 26, 2022
It capped a successful trip to the Sharks 22 for Edinburgh, in stark contrast to the hosts who, through ill-discipline and poor basics, failed to leverage territory into points during the first 40.
Edinburgh lock Pierce Phillips was yellow-carded for collapsing a Sharks maul at the end of the first half and the hosts took advantage midway through the third quarter when Du Toit crashed over from short range. Bosch missed the conversion.
Five minutes later, Edinburgh extended their two-point lead by seven when Boffelli cut through on the counter-attack, and then Kinghorn dribbled a grubber across the line and dived on it to seal a 21-5 victory.
The result marked the first home loss for a South African team in 10 URC matches in the Republic as Edinburgh bounced back from losing against Glasgow while the Sharks surrendered a four-game hot streak.
