Sharks demolish Rebels in Durban

The Sharks punished the Melbourne Rebels with 10 tries to win 64-7 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, 23 March 2013. 

The Sharks penetrated with almost every attack, found their momentum early on and through some great performances by the likes of Kyle Cooper, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Keegan Daniel, Tendai Mtawarira and Cobus Reinach, ensured a solid victory to satisfy their fans.

The massacre started when Louis Ludick open the scoring in the sixth minute. Despite some indifferent kicking by Pat Lambie in difficult windy conditions, the Sharks powered their way over the line for their second try on the back of a lineout drive, with Marcel Coetzee emerging at the bottom of the pile.

The Sharks powered to their bonus point before halftime.

Another lineout drive saw Jacques Botes power his way over for try No 3 and Daniel added the fourth with a deft step to beat two defenders. The second half may have brought hope to the Rebels, but instead the Sharks snuffed this out a minute in when the impressive Cooper broke and ran 30 metres for a lovely individual try.

Thereafter it was simply a calculation as to how high the score would go, and Reinach made up for an earlier yellow card as he intercepted a loose pass to run 60 metres for the try. Mtawarira, Ryan Kankowski, Ludick and Riaan Viljoen all added their names to the scoresheet before the flood of replacements came on.

Scorers:

The Sharks – Tries: Louis Ludik (2), Marcell Coetzee, Jacques Botes, Keegan Daniel, Kyle Cooper, Cobus Reinach, Tendai Mtwarira, Ryan Kankowski, Riaan Viljoen. Conversions: Pat Lambie (2), Meyer Bosman (5).

Melbourne Rebels – Try: Scott Higginbotham. Conversion: James O`Connor.