DURBAN, March 17 (Reuters) – The Sharks mounted a remarkable
second-half comeback to defeat defending champions Queensland
Reds 27-22 in their Super Rugby match at Kings Parks on
Saturday.
Trailing by 17 points late in the first half, the Sharks
fought back to hand the Reds their first loss of the season
after three successive wins,
The Reds, who were hampered by injuries to first-choice
kickers, centre Mike Harris and flyhalf Ben Lucas, during the
game scored with their first foray into Sharks’ territory.
Hooker James Hanson found a way through a ruck to score, and
flanker Scott Higginbotham scored a second after the home side
failed to clear their lines.
Both scores were converted and, when Ben Lucas slotted a
penalty, the score was 17-0 after 32 minutes with the Reds
dominating possession 70-30.
Replacement lock Jandre Marais finally halted the slide when
he went over for a converted try, before a dangerous tackle by
Digby Ioane on the stroke of halftime resulted I a yellow card
for the Australia winger.
Patrick Lambie sent over the resulting penalty and added
another straight after the interval to cut the gap to four
points.
Sharks captain Keegan Daniel put his team in front for the
first time after 54 minutes, but they went to sleep after the
restart and were punished accordingly by Nick Frisby, who raced
down the right to score in the corner.
The Durban side again had an answer and fullback Riaan
Viljoen cut inside cleverly on the opposite end to score a
converted try that took the gap to five.
Continued…
