The first half was a tight affair as both teams threw a lot at one another but were only able to come away with a try apiece for their efforts to see them enter the break tied at 7-7.

The Cell C Sharks broke away in the second half making the most of their opportunities, and they earned three tries for their efforts to secure the vital bonus-point win, while they left the hosts scoreless in the second stanza.

The Emirates Lions had an opportunity to build a steady lead in the first 21 minutes with three shots at goal, but flyhalf Gianni Lombard was unable to slot them, and the Cell C Sharks eventually had the first say with flyhalf Curwin Bosch darting through two defenders before stepping on the gas through the defence to score the first try in the 26th minute.

The visitors were dealt a blow minutes later as loose forward Vincent Tshituka received a yellow card for and infringement at a ruck and the home side had a the luxury of 10 minutes with an extra man.

They made good use of this with Emirates Lions captain and centre Marius Louw finding his way through the defence in the 33rd minute close to the tryline and the successful conversion leveled the scores at 7-7 going into the break.

The Durbanites’ picked up where they left off when the second half resumed with wing Thaakir Abrahams touching down in the corner nine minutes into play, and Bosch’s conversion allowed them to double their score.

They continued to apply pressure on attack and the rewards followed with replacement hooker Fez Mbatha crashing over in the 67th minute to extend their lead to 22-8 with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock.

The KwaZulu-Natalians continued to make the most of their opportunities as the match closed out with Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams dotting down from a great chip kick in the 73rd minute to close out the match and secure the bonus point.

Neither team were able to score in the dying minutes and this allowed the Cell C Sharks to walk away with a vital 29-7 victory.

Scorers:

Emirates Lions 7 (7) – Try: Marius Louw. Conversion: Gianni Lombard.

Cell C Sharks 29 (7) – Tries: Curwin Bosch, Thaakir Abrahams, Fez Mbatha, Grant Williams. Conversions: Bosch (3). Penalty goal: Bosch.