Rugby: Sharks devour error prone Blues

Adrian Jacobs skips past the tackles of Jimmy Gopperth and Chis Lowery. Photo / Getty Images.

The Blues and Ali Williams endured an unhappy homecoming at Eden Park tonight as the Sharks underlined their Super 14 rugby title credentials with a composed 35-31 victory .

Beaten finalists in 2001 and 2007, the Sharks banked a second valuable win in New Zealand - after a 22-15 victory over the Chiefs in Hamilton last week to remain unbeaten after four rounds.

A bloodied Springbok captain John Smit secured the four-try bonus point in the 68th minute, shortly after Joe Rokocoko lost the ball on the Sharks line.

The turnaround encapsulated the clinical precision of the South Africans and a error-ridden Blues' side clearly taxed by their return journey from the Republic.

Rokocoko at least salvaged a point when he crossed on fulltime - a consolation score that may prove beneficial later in the competition.

The Blues last beat the Sharks in 2005, when the Durban-based franchise finished bottom of the final Super 12 .

Realising the Blues had spent three arduous weeks on the road, the Sharks' New Zealand-born coach John Plumtree imposed an up-tempo game plan to effectively wear them down.

While the policy paid dividends when an Adrian Jacobs burst and clever change of angle put JP Pietersen under the posts in the ninth minute, it was also detrimental.

Refusing to kick the ball out of danger bit the Sharks in the 25th minute when the Blues forced a five-metre scrum - the ideal platform for Jimmy Gopperth to double round and fire a flat pass that put Isaia Toeava on course for the left hand corner.

Gopperth's angled conversion gave the Blues a 13-10 lead but Rory Kockott levelled the contest on the half hour, seconds after a long-range penalty had drifted wide.

In an error symptomatic of the Blues' patchy performance, halfback Taniela Moa muffed a 22-metre restart and when the Sharks regained possession, counterpart Kockott hit the mark with a sweet dropped goal.

Blues openside flanker Onosai Auva'a was denied by a desperate covering tackle by Odwa Ndugane from the restart, the near miss heralding a period of Sharks dominance either side of halftime.

Three minutes from the break flanker Jacques Botes swooped on a dropped high ball by Jerome Kaino to skip clear and although Gopperth landed a penalty in injury time to cut the deficit to 16-20, lock Stephen Sykes gave the Sharks breathing space when he burrowed over in the 47th minute.

Gopperth turned from provider to scorer early in the final quarter to cut the margin to 21-30 but when Rokocoko lost control when barrelled by a suspiciously offside Sharks skipper Johann Muller, any hope of a bold Blues' resurgence evaporated.

The Blues were hindered by the loss both openside flankers - Auva'a and his replacement Josh Blackie with 30 minutes to run though the Sharks lose trio of Botes, Keegan Daniel and Ryan Kankowski were already a handful in the loose.

The Sharks' Springbok land pack were also steadfast at scrum and lineout time - to ensure the injection of a typically tetchy Williams was immaterial.

Finally recovered from a back niggle, Williams was making his first appearance for the Blues since 2007, having spent last year at the champions Crusaders.

The Sharks now head for Brisbane and the Reds on Saturday, the first of two Australian stopovers on the way home, while the provisionally fifth-placed Blues host the winless Cheetahs at Albany on Friday night.

- NZPA