Sharks win in Canberra
Outside centre Lukhanyo Am scored in injury time to give the Cell C Sharks a gritty 27-22 win over the ACT Brumbies in their Super Rugby clash in Canberra on Saturday.
Am scooped up a kick ahead from replacement fullback Curwin Bosch and crashed over with the last play of the game to consign the Brumbies to two consecutive losses to start their season.
After a narrow loss to the Queensland Reds in the opening week when captain Pat Lambie missed a last minute penalty attempt, the Sharks will head back to Durban full of confidence for their clash against the NSW Waratahs next weekend.
"You could see the excitement in our group when we scored that try at the end," Lambie said.
"We needed to get the win here."
The Brumbies got away to the perfect start when winger Henry Speight crossed out wide after only two minutes following a crisp backline move.
The Sharks were dominating possession and hit back 10 minutes later through a Lambie penalty, but they were stunned midway through the half when Brumbies hooker Josh Mann-Rea crashed over at the back of a rolling maul.
A Wharenui Hawera penalty made it 15-3 to the home side before Springbok veteran Tendai Mtawarira bulldozed his way over next to the posts to narrow the gap.
Lambie converted the try then kicked his second penalty to make it 15-13 at the break.
The Sharks started the second half the stronger of the two sides and took the lead for the first time with Lambie's third penalty.
With the Sharks dominating possession and territory, the Brumbies began to feel the pressure and two more penalties saw the visitors skip away to a 22-15 lead midway through the second half.
But the Brumbies slowly worked their way back into the game and were back on level terms when Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani crossed next to the posts 10 minutes from fulltime.
However, despite having possession and field position the home side couldn't finish the Sharks off and when they lost the ball deep in attack right on fulltime the Sharks swept downfield.
Bosch took the ball 30 metres out and just as he was about to be bundled into touch he chipped infield for Am, who made no mistake.
"We had our opportunities in those last 10 minutes and we weren't good enough," Brumbies captain Sam Carter said.
"It's tough losing like that but full credit to the Sharks -- they played the full 80 minutes and deserved to win."
After a narrow loss to the Queensland Reds in the opening week when captain Pat Lambie missed a last minute penalty attempt, the Sharks will head back to Durban full of confidence for their clash against the NSW Waratahs next weekend.
"You could see the excitement in our group when we scored that try at the end," Lambie said.
"We needed to get the win here."
The Brumbies got away to the perfect start when winger Henry Speight crossed out wide after only two minutes following a crisp backline move.
The Sharks were dominating possession and hit back 10 minutes later through a Lambie penalty, but they were stunned midway through the half when Brumbies hooker Josh Mann-Rea crashed over at the back of a rolling maul.
A Wharenui Hawera penalty made it 15-3 to the home side before Springbok veteran Tendai Mtawarira bulldozed his way over next to the posts to narrow the gap.
Lambie converted the try then kicked his second penalty to make it 15-13 at the break.
The Sharks started the second half the stronger of the two sides and took the lead for the first time with Lambie's third penalty.
With the Sharks dominating possession and territory, the Brumbies began to feel the pressure and two more penalties saw the visitors skip away to a 22-15 lead midway through the second half.
But the Brumbies slowly worked their way back into the game and were back on level terms when Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani crossed next to the posts 10 minutes from fulltime.
However, despite having possession and field position the home side couldn't finish the Sharks off and when they lost the ball deep in attack right on fulltime the Sharks swept downfield.
Bosch took the ball 30 metres out and just as he was about to be bundled into touch he chipped infield for Am, who made no mistake.
"We had our opportunities in those last 10 minutes and we weren't good enough," Brumbies captain Sam Carter said.
"It's tough losing like that but full credit to the Sharks -- they played the full 80 minutes and deserved to win."
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre