Without several Boks, Sharks raise the bar in stunning win

Ox Nche, Henco Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler and Thomas du Toit among others, toiled up front but it was fullback Aphelele Fassi who walked off with the man of the match award, for a particularly defiant performance in defence.

Powell felt when Edinburgh made the game unstructured the Sharks were the most prone and at the break instructed the team to tighten the screws.

“The message to our boys was to get them to our structure,” said Powell who added they had opportunities to put the game beyond the hosts.

In the end though, it was their defence that won the day. “It's a massive win for us. We will take a lot of confidence, momentum and flow out of this one, We will enjoy this win.

“Everybody is committed to where we want to go this season. That commitment was shown on the field today especially in defence.”

On the back of their performance in Edinburgh the Sharks will return home to what is likely to be very enthusiastic support at Kings Park when they play the Stormers next weekend.

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