KEY POINTS:
The Hurricanes were squashed by a bulldozing Sharks forward pack who rolled their team to the top of the table with a win in Durban yesterday.
The unbeaten Sharks won their sixth match and picked up their first bonus point of the season for scoring four tries, and restricted the Hurricanes to just one consolation try in the final quarter.
Three of the hosts' tries came from rolling mauls established near the Hurricanes' tryline, summing up the dominance of their pack led superbly by veteran flanker AJ Venter.
The Sharks also played with an adventurous spirit which is normally the domain of the Hurricanes, with fullback Francois Steyn, winger J P Pietersen and halfback Ruan Pienaar at the heart of several counterattacks.
In contrast, the Hurricanes, who lost their third consecutive game, struggled to claim quality ball and were beset by mistakes.
Captain Tana Umaga described the result as disappointing. "The Sharks were too good today, but I don't think we helped ourselves with the amount of errors we made," he said.
"We've got to look at our own game, but that's to take nothing away from the Sharks. It showed the difference between the sides. They were a side playing with confidence compared to a side that was a little bit indifferent."
Umaga was unlucky to be sinbinned in the 15th minute when he took out Steyn while contesting a high ball.
This week, against the Lions in Johannesburg, the Hurricanes will get the much-needed services of their six All Blacks who have been on reconditioning programmes.
The Sharks will seek a seventh straight win, against the Brumbies at home this weekend. "We've got six in a row now, but it's still only a start, we've got a lot of games on the road to come," captain Venter said.
- NZPA
