URC

The Sharks ran riot to register a convincing 47-20 bonus-point victory over the hapless Bulls in an exciting United Rugby Championship (URC) match at Kings ...

Penalties: Chris Smith (2) Conversions: Chris Smith (2) Another notable contributor to the scoreboard was Bosch who scored 20 points.

Rugby fans can enjoy a year-ending treat when the Sharks take on the Bulls, and the Stormers face the Lions, in the URC on Saturday.

Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa, Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa) TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa) Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa, Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)

It was meant to be a close URC derby at Kings Park, but the Sharks produced a tremendously focused performance as they blew the Bulls away 47-20.

Penalties – Smith (2). Conversions – Chris Smith (2). Penalties – Bosch (4). Conversions – Curwin Bosch (4). The Sharks, confidence rampant, were on auto-pilot in the second half and they scored a superb try in the 51st minute to open the scoring after the break. But then the Bulls found themselves in the eye of a storm, much of it of their own making as they were terribly ill-disciplined.

While the Sharks' Siya Kolisi and co were vocal in dealing with referee Marius van der Westhuizen, the Bulls were perhaps too muted.

"It was difficult for us to stop them, even more, difficult to stop them with 13 men on the field. "The ref reffed very well. This is a great group of players who work really hard and they also take it hard when they lose like this," said White. "We probably had the rub of the green when we had Duane Vermeulen captaining our team when we won two titles a few years ago. There needs to be time on the clock. You have an older, wiser and perhaps even more respected captain within your ranks and then you start getting one or two calls that would go against you going for you suddenly."

Stormers cement their position in second place with Bulls win, while Benetton move up to seventh with victory over Zebre.

The Sharks — who travel to face Connacht in the Sportsground next weekend — were in the mood to entertain a crowd of just under 26,000 as centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg touched down twice in the second period, while Bosch added two more conversions and a penalty to finish with 20 points. In Saturday’s other early URC kick-off, Benetton beat Zebre 40-17, while in Cape Town, the Stormers ran in six tries as they closed out their unbeaten calendar year at home with an impressive 40-8 win over the Bulls, cementing their position in second place in the table. Moodie then collected a second yellow two minutes from time for a high tackle, meaning that he was sent off as the Bulls’ afternoon ended in suitably frustrating fashion.