Two late penalties from fly half Frans Steyn allowed South Africa’s Sharks to come from behind to edge the Highlanders 31-27 and advance to Super Rugby’s last four at King’s Park in Durban yesterday.
Steyn kicked 16 points with the boot as the home side had to scramble for the victory with its forward power more than matched by the pace and handling skills of the New Zealand visitors, who had a 17-13 half-time lead.
The scrumming strength of the Sharks saw them open up a 10-point lead halfway through the first half only for the Highlanders to bounce back with two running tries from Malakai Fekitoa and Kane Hames that emphasised their ability with the ball in broken play.
“The Highlanders ran us to pieces at stages in the game, their whole backline was amazing,” admitted Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis.
“We pride ourselves on our scrumming and we controlled all our set pieces, not losing a single lineout or scrum,” du Plessis said.
The Highlanders led by two points going into the last six minutes of play but relentless home pressure forced two penalties that Steyn booted over to keep alive South African interest in this year’s competition.
The Sharks reached their eighth Super Rugby semi-final and now play the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday for a place in the final.
