Sharks hold off Chiefs in Super 14 rugby

The match, played mainly in heavy rain, went nearly four minutes into extra time as the Chiefs mounted wave after wave of attack on the Sharks line, looking for the equalizer, but they could not find a way through.

In a match that was an intense struggle all the way, the Sharks' success lay in the pinpoint accuracy of their chip kicks to the left wing flyer JP Pietersen.

It was a well-rehearsed move that produced two tries from precisely weighted kicks by Francois Steyn and Ruan Pienaar.

Steyn was a class act for the Sharks, scoring the only try in the first half to give the South Africans a 7-3 lead at the turn, and then setting up Pietersen's first try midway through the second half.

When Pienaar repeated the move 10 minutes later, with a chip kick across field that bounced perfectly for Pietersen to run on to, the game appeared over with the Sharks up 22-8.

However the Chiefs fought back, narrowing the gap to seven points with a try to Brendon Leonard when the halfback knocked Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche backwards in his charge for the line.

But Terblanche turned from villain to hero minutes later with a copybook tackle that cut down Stephen Donald just short of the line.

The Chiefs twice held the lead in the match, from Donald's opening penalty and again when hooker Aled de Malmanche forced his way over early in the second spell but luck was against them when they needed it most.

They were unable to capitalise on the Sharks losing halfback Rory Kockott for 10 minutes in the first half when he was sent to the sinbin for holding back Liam Messam when the Chiefs were attacking down the left flank.

Then in the Chiefs' closing burst, two possible tries were knocked back by the television match official as they carried out repeated drives to the line.

When Messam drove over it was ruled that there was a Shark's hand under the ball which prevented the grounding, and when replacement back Mike Delany crossed it was ruled that his arm scraped the touchline at the same time as he forced the ball.

The Sharks remain in New Zealand to play the Blues next week on their return from South Africa while the winless Chiefs remain at home to host the Western Force.

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