The Sharks slaughtered the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday night, winning 30-19.
The visitors, who claimed the full five league points, led 17-12 at half time.
Cape Town’s rugby people roared with their voices, dipped into their pockets early in the week, and provided a passion that was never matched by a home team who looked like they had stumbled out of a pub 20 minutes before kick-off.
There was decent support for the Sharks among the 54,000 crowd, and the visitors — two wins from eight matches in the United Rugby Championship (URC) before kick-off — fed off the energy of the crowd and a belief that they could always come to Cape Town and win.
The Sharks had never won against the Stormers in Cape Town in the URC, their only victory being in 2021.
Post that solitary win, the two teams had met four times in the Mother City, and the Sharks had lost all four, albeit by an average score of five points.
All week, the narrative from the Stormers camp was one of respect for the Sharks, reverence for the occasion of a South African derby, and dismissiveness for the league positions that had the Stormers first and the Sharks 14th.
There was nothing redeeming about this performance, and it was the Sharks, disciplined and desperate in everything they did, who were comfortably the better team
If you did not know the league positions, it would not have been amiss to think of the Stormers as the basement dwellers and league strugglers. They were awful from the first kick-off, which they failed to gather.
What followed was another of those horror 60 seconds the Stormers play, where players turn the basics into a burden with a blundering attempt at the glory pass or kick.
A dropped pass, a kick out on the full, passive defence from the resulting Sharks lineout, a Sharks penalty, a drive to the line, and a score. This all within four minutes.
It was easy for the Sharks, courtesy of the charitable hosts.
The freebies from the home team included five lost lineout throws 10m from the Sharks tryline, two yellow cards, and continued ineptness with every panic-induced attack.
It was a mess and an insult to those who backed up, filling the DHL Stadium for the 13-8 derby win against the Bulls a month ago, with another show of faith in filling the stadium for the Sharks.
There were individual moments from the Stormers, with try-scoring rewards coming from field chaos or individual brilliance, but when talking about a collective effort, this was disturbingly ugly from a team that was defending an unbeaten league season.
The Sharks, with captain Andre Esterhuizen supreme, fought for dominance at the breakdown and set piece from the first kick-off.
Esterhuizen was powerful in the tackle, carried with conviction, and chased down Leolin Zas with the Stormers wing seemingly certain to score on the counterattack. Esterhuizen hauled him in as if wearing jet shoes, while Zas resembled a runner in quicksand.
It was the story of the Stormers’ night. They never arrived, despite all the pre-match talk and hype of making Cape Town smile. Instead, it was Cape Town crying in the 72nd minute when the Sharks scored their bonus point try to lead 30-12.
Springboks loose-head Ox Nche, introduced in the 30th minute, immediately owned his opposite number, and the strongman of world rugby, the sport’s best loosehead prop, settled into his night’s work with the pleasure he does when eating chocolate cake.
There was nothing redeeming about this performance, and it was the Sharks, disciplined and desperate in everything they did, who were comfortably the better team.
Few could dispute their superiority on a night when the league leaders looked more like winning a wooden spoon than a shiny silver trophy.
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