The Sharks replaced the Waratahs as
Super 12 leaders after a thrilling 39-21 triumph over the Hurricanes at Absa
Stadium in Durban on Saturday.

Trailing the Australians by four points before the game, the South Africans
collected four points for winning plus a bonus point for scoring four tries.
The Sharks have 17 points, Waratahs 16 and ACT Brumbies 15 after four rounds.

Defeat left the New Zealanders second last in the table with just four points from a win over bottom team Northern Bulls.

Sharks flyhalf Butch James contributed 19 points with five penalties and two conversions and wings Stefan Terblanche and Justin Swart and locks Charl van Rensburg and Albert van den Berg scored a try each.

Substitute flyhalf Tanner Vili and centres Tana Umaga and Paul Steinmetz
touched down for the Hurricanes and wing Daryl Lilley landed the three
conversions.

Umaga and Jonah Lomu crossed the line early in the first half, but the video referee correctly disallowed both efforts with the former knocking on
and the latter hitting the corner flag first.

Success was not only a triumph for a fired-up Sharks team led by hooker
John Smit for the first time, but also for coach Rudolf Straeuli, a forward in
the 1995 South African World Cup winning team.

He made eight changes, including two forced by injuries to Springbok prop
Ollie le Roux and lock Mark Andrews, from the team that pipped the Highlanders 30-29 in Durban last weekend.

And although the coach looked his normal grim self sitting in the stand on a hot, humid night, he occasionally cracked a brief smile while watching his team enjoy some luck en route to an emphatic victory.

The Hurricanes did eveything except score for most of the opening half with
their first try coming in stoppage time through substitute Vili after the
Sharks lost possession at their scrum.

But if the opportunist South Africans were blessed to lead 20-7 at the break after snatching three tries. They took control during the second period with Van den Berg scoring the fourth try 13 minutes into the half.

Superb place kicking by James, who finished with seven successful kicks
from nine attempts, was a major factor in the most exciting of the Sharks'
four consecutive victories this season.