In truth on the night both of them could have at times been mistaken for tuna rather than the predatory fish they are named after but it was the Sale Sharks who won the bragging rights over the Hollywoodbets Sharks with a 26-10 win in their Investec Champions Cup clash in Manchester on Saturday night.
The Sharks owner Marco Masotti had raised the temperature a bit in his social media posts during the week suggesting that there was only room for one Sharks team, which of course the Cronulla Sharks might well have something to say about, and expressing the hope that his team would turn Sale into the “Sale Tuna”. That never came close to happening.
However, given that the Sharks left Durban with a distinctly second string team, with 16 Springboks being rested, they would have been pleased with how competitive they were in a first half where frankly, given the amount of possession they won, they should have been ahead on a night which wasn’t quite as inclement it might have been given all the hype generated by Storm Goretti.
However, at the same time they should also have been kicking themselves that they didn’t come with a more loaded team as had they done so they may well have returned to South Africa with a good chance of securing a home round of 16 clash if they beat Clermont-Auvergne at Hollywoodbets Kings Park next Saturday.
Both teams are languishing in their bread and butter leagues - the Sharks are 14th in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, which is effectively third last, while Sale are seventh in the Gallagher Premiership. The hosts played like a team lacking confidence and a stronger Sharks team could well have taken advantage.
TSHITUKA SCORES ASTOUNDING TRY
The Sharks made a mistake at their first lineout and were never that convincing in that phase but quickly established commanding superiority in the set scrum, where, let it be said, double World Cup winner Vincent Koch made a strong return to this level of rugby. He is 36 but in this evidence he could still have a role to play for the Boks.
However, one player not in the frame as yet, who made a powerful statement was Emmanuel Tshituka, who showed a phenomenal turn of speed for such a big man by scoring an astounding individualistic try in which he ran all of 60 metres to the tryline. That came on the hour mark and left the Sharks trailing 19-10 as they gave themselves just a glimmer of hope after they had fallen behind to first a driving maul try dotted down by Bevan Rodd in the 50th minute and then a wing try to Tom O’Flaherty five minutes after that.
Unfortunately for the Sharks that glimmer was quickly extinguished when O’Flaherty ran through a tired looking defence to almost immediately re-establish their 16 point advantage and there was never any doubt who was going to win after that.
Only one Shark survives 🦈
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 10, 2026
The Hollywoodbets Sharks turn into Tuna 👀#InvestecChampionsCup | #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/q34aXYy31Q
Apart from the scrumming the Sharks’ defence was committed for long periods but their lack of dynamism on attack was again exposed, although to be fair given all the talk about the weather this was probably never a game where they were expecting to make an attacking statement. For the most part they played the old South African style of one-off runners and little attacking innovation at the back.
The younger Tshituka didn’t just score a good try, he also excelled in other departments, while Tino Masevere and the ever impressive captain never did any damage to their reputations. But it was O’Flaherty who won the man of the match award for his two tries on a night where his team achieved their objective of securing a win with a bonus point to take away the pressure of needing to beat Bordeaux-Begles in their final Pool game next weekend.
The Sharks did lead early on through a seventh minute penalty after a loose start but, with neither team showing much authority and both appearing to lack confidence with ball in hand, that lead was wiped out by a 13th minute try by Sale centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White who scythed through after two penalties had set up the attacking lineout from which the attack was launched.
Sale, who won the aerial battle on the night but did have to defend quite a bit in the first half, were never headed after England flyhalf Ford’s conversion gave his team a 7-3 lead that was to remain that way for the remaining 26 minutes of the half.
Scores
Sale Sharks 26 - Tries: Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Bevan Rodd and Tom O’Flaherty 2; Conversions: George Ford 3. Hollywoodbets Sharks 10 - Try: Emmanuel Tshituka; Conversion: Siya Masuku; Penalty: Siya Masuku.