Stormers edge out Sharks 11-16 in close encounter

Sharks 11-16 Stormers, Jonsson Kings Park
Scorecard

A dominating first half from Stormers proved enough as they edged out Sharks 11-16 in the third round of the Super Rugby 2019 season at Jonsson Kings Park on Saturday.

Despite the defeat, the Sharks are at the top of the South African Conference with 11 points while Stormers are at fourth place with eight points.

The Stormers got off to a promising start when Damian Willemse intercepted Andre Esterhuizen’s pass in the fourth minute for the opening try that was converted by SP Marais .

Even though Robert du Preez kicked a 15th-minute penalty goal to get Sharks off the mark they were reduced to 14-men temporarily when Lukhanyo Am was sin-binned for repeated infringements. Their indiscipline costed them dearly as Akker van der Merwe was also yellow carded in the 38th minute for playing the ball off his feet and two penalty kicks from Marais made it 3-13 before the break.

Am made an impact on his return with an early try after the break that reduced the arrears to five points and this time it was the visitors, who suffered a setback when du Plessis was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Makazole Mapimpi following which du Preez kicked another penalty goal to make it 11-13.

Nevertheless, Sharks failed to push on and instead, Marais kicked another penalty goal to complete an 11-16 win for the Stormers.