Stormers surge clear
Schalk Burger scored the only try as the Stormers went top of the Super Rugby standings with a 16-6 victory over the Sharks.
Last Updated: 02/04/11 6:37pm
Schalk Burger scored the only try of the match as the Stormers went top of the Super Rugby standings with a 16-6 victory over the Sharks in Durban.
The visiting captain capitalised on good work by his South Africa international team-mates Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana to scoop the ball up from the back of a ruck and plunge over in the 14th minute.
Peter Grant kicked the remaining 11 points to make it six wins from six for last year's finalists.
For the Sharks it was a third straight loss following four early-season wins.
Grant landed the first blow for his side by putting them 3-0 ahead when the hosts were penalised for illegal scrumming.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter responded by slotting over his first kick when the visitors were offside, but the fly-half's sluggishness at the back following the kick-off created pressure on the Sharks defence.
Habana and Fourie's initial running opened up a hole and Burger had the simplest of pick-ups to run in under the post.
Tripped over
After Grant comfortably added the extras, Charl McLeod finally managed to break the visitors' defensive line, but after running 50 metres and faced with last man Gio Aplon, he tripped over and failed to offload to Odwa Ndungane.
Shortly after, Potgieter missed his second kick on goal, while Grant maintained his consistency after Ndungane was punished for playing the ball on the ground.
The Sharks number 10 continued his poor kicking show by striking the upright, but gave the home crowd some hope with a 51-metre kick that left the scoreline 13-6 at the break.
After the restart, Potgieter almost broke through when he was sent away by JP Pietersen, but again the cover defence from Aplon was exceptional.
And as the patience began to wear, the errors began to creep in for the Sharks - the latest one by Tendai Mtawarira offering Grant another chance at goal which he gleefully took.
The rain also began to pour and with time running out, Potgieter missed the chance to at least salvage a bonus point for the hosts.
