The Hollywoodbets Sharks beat Benetton 46-07 on Saturday in Durban, scoring eight tries to the one scored by Benetton.
In a scrappy match, Edwill van der Merwe scored a great try after 11 minutes of play in the first half, following great interplay and miracle passes by the home team.
Individual brilliance by Jurenzo Julius had him bursting through several tackles to crash over after 22 minutes of play in the first half to extend the Sharks’ lead to 10-00.
Six minutes later, Siya Kolisi comes off the front of a lineout maul to score the Sharks third try to extend the Sharks lead to 15-00.
Following a 20-minute red card to Zebre, the Sharks set up camp in Zebre’s red zone, and eventually the ball was spread wide to Edwill van der Merwe, who danced past several defenders to score his second try in the corner. The Sharks lead 20-00 at the halftime break.
The Sharks started the second half with Andre Esterhuisen bulldozing his way over for the Sharks' fifth try. Zekethelo Siyaya converted to extend the Sharks’ lead to 27-00 after five minutes of play in the second half.
The Sharks continued their dominance, and following twenty minutes of play, Jurenzo Julius crashed over for his second try of the match. Three minutes later, Jurenzo Julius crashed over for his hat-trick to extend the Sharks’ lead to 41-00.
With time almost up, Benetton’s Cristiano Tizzano crashed over for a consolation try to cut the Sharks’ lead to 41-07.
However, the Sharks were not done and Litelihle Bester scored in the corner to extend the Sharks’ lead to 46-07, which was the final score.
Scorers:
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Edwill van der Merwe (2), Jurenzo Julius (3), Siya Kolisi, Andre Esterhuizen, Litelihle Bester. Conversions: Zekethelo Siyaya, Jean Smith (2).
Benetton: Try: Cristiano Tizzano. Conversion: Alessandro Garbisi.
Teams
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Jaco Williams, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Nicholas Hatton, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Litelihle Bester.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Alessandro Izekor, 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Giulio Marini, 4 Niccolò Cannone (captain), 3 Marcos Gallorini, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu. Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Mattia Midena, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Federico Ruzza, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Federico Zanandrea.