The Sharks went back to the top of the table this evening after this convincing and impressive victory over a very poor Blues side.

Their win was based around a well organized defensive effort , in which flanker Warren Britz was superb, and the efficiency of the way they took their scoring opportunities. They maintained pressure on the Blues throughout and the Aucklanders had very little to offer in return. Their season is now in ruins, their play disjointed and obviously lacking in confidence. The Sharks can look forward to the remainder of their Australasian tour in the knowledge that they are on the verge of securing a semi final spot.

The Sharks started superbly, benefiting from a wild pass from Vidiri to Howlett to pressurize the Blues. Good driving play from the South African forwards , scattering defenders before them , earned an early penalty which they ran rather than kicked. Their enterprise was rewarded when Butch James crossed the line on the right, bursting on to a pass from Davidson.

The Sharks were back on attack at once, a poor clearance from Ai'i putting his side under pressure. Swart crossed the line after James' kick to the corner , but Howlett's tackle managed to push the winger into touch before he could touch down. Swart then knocked on a kick just outside his 22 to give the Blues their first promising position . A series of drives down the left and into the corner saw Rush dive in, but referee Erickson needed the advice of the video official, who awarded a scrum to the Sharks. They made a mess of the clearance , handing the put-in to the Blues. Laboured attacking play allowed the Sharks to clear.

A determined drive from Rush got the Blues' forwards going forward, the ball found its way to Ai'i on the right and he created the overlap for Howlett. He flew down the touch line to evade the desperate tacklers and Ai'i's conversion gave the Blues the lead.

Ai'i then failed to find touch with a penalty and the Sharks swarmed back into attack. Andrews won a 5 metre line out and was driven towards the line. As the ball went left the Blues fell offside to give James a penalty chance. He converted from right in front of the posts.

A magnificent charge by AJ Venter, followed by a superb kick by Terblanche to the corner had the Sharks straight back into the attack. The Blues were penalized for a crooked throw, from the ensuing scrum the Sharks launched themselves at the line and won another penalty right in front. James could hardly miss , and did not.

Davidson took the ball inside his 22 from the kick off and kicked directly out. The Blues attacked from the scrum, Howlett nearly squirmed his way over but his side were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Ai'i kicked the goal. Defensive errors from the Blues allowed the Sharks to establish good field positions, Swart was tackled by Howlett without the ball . From the tapped penalty the ball went right to Halstead who charged through Innes' tackle, a suspicion of a double movement ignored by the referee.

Spencer's kick off failed to go 10 metres and at the scrum which followed the Blues were penalized. James kicked to the corner and Vidiri fumbled the ball into touch. Venter caught at the lineout and fed Ollie Le Roux who crossed the line unopposed. The Blues had an immediate opportunity to reduce the deficit after the Sharks had gone offside but Ai'i's kick was stabbed wide. As the half time siren went the Blues were awarded a penalty, Brooke took the ball on, it was released to Spencer on the right, he ghosted through the defence and fed Cribb on the right wing. He ran in for a priceless try, but the Sharks led at the break 25-15.

Craig Innes made a superb break at the start of the second half to set the Blues on attack, but a loose pass then cost them a good chance of points. Clever forward play from the Sharks then got them settled as they drove ahead with impressive continuity. Taumoepeau infringed and James kicked to the left hand corner. As the Sharks threatened their fourth try they knocked the ball on to ease the pressure on the Blues. Given another attacking opportunity the Sharks again knocked on after a clumsy phase of passing.

Robinson and Flavell then came on for the Blues, skipper Robin Brooke again only lasting 50 minutes. This encouraged the home side but untidy play from both sides undermined all their attacking intentions. The Sharks got the crucial first points of the half , James kicking a straightforward penalty after the Blues had hung on to the ball on the floor.

The Sharks maintained the pressure with good percentage play, pinning the Blues back in their territory. Hooker John Smit burst on to a line out catch and sprinted over for his side's bonus point . James conversion took the lead to 20 points. The Blues' woes were worsened when Flavell was sin-binned for interfering with van den Berg in a lineout. James kicked the resulting penalty.

Smit then joined Flavell in the sin bin for a late shoulder charge on Doug Howlett as the Blues threatened. When the ball went left Vidiri was worked into an overlap and scored his 42nd Super 12 try. Sensing that they still had a chance , the Blues infringed on the floor to allow James the chance to take his side past the 40 points.

An extraordinary passage of end to end play saw Terblanche hack the ball from inside his own 22 only to be denied the try as he knocked on with few defenders in attendance. The end of the game came with the Blues on attack and they salvaged a bonus point when Robinson surged around the front of a line out into the left hand corner.