FULL TIME, SHARKS 23-13 EDINBURGH. An increasingly impressive performance from the home side, who largely bossed the second half with some entertaining and exciting rugby. Edinburgh played their part with some excellent handling and running, but they just didn't have what it took today to take on a powerful and highly entertaining Sharks side. Thanks for following the action with us, and enjoy the rest of your sporting weekend.
CONVERSION, EDINBURGH, HEALY! 23-13. Lovely kick from Healy… and that's the ballgame!
TRY, EDINBURGH, VENTER! 23-11; Great driving forward by Edinburgh for a consolation try just to the right of the posts.
The kick is missed from the touchline.
TRY, SHARKS, BUTHELEZI! 23-6; Lovely running across the pitch and then down the right touchline, Buthelezi powering over for the score.
Sharks kick to the 5m and will look for another score
YELLOW CARD, EDINBURGH, SHIEL! Carded for a deliberate knock-down.
GREAT RUN by Edinburgh to power through the Sharks for a try, but it's called back by the TMO and the Sharks have a penalty that is kicked deep into the Edinburgh half
Edinburgh regroup and drive forward in to the Sharks half… they break into the 22, passing left then right… some great running… but they're blown for offsides. Real pity as that looked like a try in the making.
PENALTY, SHARKS, MASUKU! 18-6; The match is slip-sliding away from the Scots…
PENALTY! Watson grabs the ball from the other side of the loose maul and it's another penalty again in front of poles… and the Sharks are going to keep dripping the score up and up. Masuku with the kick dead in front of posts and about 7m out…
Sharks drive hard for the line and look to have powered over, but the ref says it was held up… Sharks will feed the scrum again on the 5m… this is a big moment in the match.
Huge kick upfield by the Sharks bounces out just before the corner flag, but the ref has awarded a penalty on the Edinburgh 5m line!
PENALTY, SHARKS, MASUKU! 15-6; Masuku restores the nine-point advantage… the kick coming from inside the Edinburgh 22 and right in front of posts.
Sharks hitting back strongly now, forcing their way upfield and into the Edinburgh 22… PENALTY!
PENALTY, EDINBURGH, HEALY! 12-6; Healy slots the penalty with ease… Sharks will be angry to have given away three points.
Edinburgh with the pressure now on the Sharks as they look to eat up the points gap…
Sharks win a penalty near the 10m line but 20m to the right of the posts… Masuku connects well but he pulls it ever so ever and it curls past the far post.
WIDE! Masuku's conversion from the touchline slides wide, but it's still a nice lead for the hosts.
TRY, SHARKS, AM! 12-3; Sharks press forward and feed Lukhanyo Am down the right touchline… he bursts through a tackle from the massive Van der Merwe and crashes over for the try with a second man on top of him. TMO checks it for half a second but the replay is clear as day…. GREAT TRY!!!!
Sharks win the scrum and drive up into the Edinburgh half, this is looking dangerous…
Sharks putting early pressure on the visitors.
KICK-OFF! We're underway with the second half… it's Sharks 7, Edinburgh 3!
HALF-TIME, SHARK 7-3 EDINBURGH. A bristling first half, the Sharks showing great inventiveness and power on attack. Edinburgh have been pretty quiet, but they've shown enough of the beast in them to promise an entertaining second half… coming up shortly.
KNOCK-ON! The Sharks knock-on and Van der Merwe is there to pick it up, but he's grabbed by the coattails… but the ref blows for an earlier Edinburgh knock-on. Sharks win the scrum and kick to touch as the hooter has sung.
Pressure from Ediburgh from the kick-off, bit of running then a deep kick which forces the Sharks to allow the visitors a lineout. 10m from the Sharks 22…
PENALTY, EDINBURGH, HEALY! 7-3; Easy as you like for Healy.
GREAT PLAY from Edinburgh, winning the ball from the maul and running left, powering down the left touchline with Duhan van der Merwe, pushing back in and winning a penalty almost in front of poles inside the 22. Healy will kick for the three.
Edinburgh win their scrum, boot the ball forward and chase up on the Sharks, win the ball back but are forced into touch just past the halfway line.
Play stops for an injury to Tshituka near the halfway line.
The Scots have the scrum 15m from their line but they are penalised… the Sharks tap and go and power their way through to the Scots line but they are held up and Edinburgh have a drop out, much to their relief as that looked like another five-pointer for the home side.
Sharks blown in the scrum and Edinburgh kick upfield… the Sharks run back at the, some lovely handling, back passes and one-handed lay-offs as the hosts press up to the Edinburgh 5m… but the visitors win the loose ball and clear the danger upfield.
Sharks with the scrum on the Edinburgh 22…
Sharks straight back on the attack… Edinburgh hold them this time but it's looking now like a long afternoon in the heat for the Scots.
CONVERSION, SHARKS, MASUKUK! 7-0; Masuku does the honours, knocking the conversion over from 15m to the right of the posts. And that's 7-0 to Masuku!
TRY, SHARKS, MASUKU! 5-0; Healy clears the ball deep upfield, the ball is passed to Masuku on the halfway line, he jinks through three tackles by the 10m, rounds a man on the 22 who gets two hands to his jersey but can't hold him, and then speeds through to the line with two defenders on his tail! Superb piece of individualism! An incredible run!
Sharks are blown in the scrum and Healy gets to clear the danger up past his 22, but it's a Sharks lineout.
… but the Sharks are blown for holding and Edinburgh have a scrum 5m…
Great running from the Sharks across to the right touchline and breaking the 22, where Edinburgh are blown for an early tackle. Sharks kick for touch, win the 5m lineout and push for the line…
OH DEAR… he seemed to take a lot of turf with the kick and if slid off to the right and might have only just had the legs… but the score remains 0-0!
OH DEAR… he seemed to take a lot of turf with the kick and if slid off to the right and might have only just had the legs… but the score remains 0-0!
Edinburgh blown for an infringement in the scrum and Masuku will kick for poles.
Sharks win a scrum on the halfway line… the players all taking some strain in the heat.
SHARKS BREAK BACK UPFIELD but Edinburgh manage to break up the attack on their 10m but that looked dangerous from the home side.
Edinburgh clear the danger again up to the halfway line, but the Sharks win the lineout and press at Edinburgh, only to lose the ball and the hosts press back at them.
Edinburgh force play back to the halfway line but the Sharks win possession back and take play back to the Edinburgh 22.
Incredible pressure from the Sharks sees them drive over the line but Edinburgh hold them up and there's no try.
Good work from the Sharks to drive forward into the Edinburgh half, Mapimpi sliding a grubber deep into the 22, which Edinburgh clear for a lineout.
KICK-OFF! We're underway here at Kings Park!
Our referee for today is Eoghan Cross from Ireland, and he will be assisted by the South African pair of Cwengile Jadezweni and Jonothan Lottering. Our TMO is Marc Patton from Ireland.
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Jake Henry, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 James Lang.
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Ethan Hooker.
Edinburgh have won two of their three matches against the Sharks.
In their last match, however, they had to suck up a 43-21 away loss to the Stormers.
They beat the Scarlets 31-19 away, and followed that with another away win - 24-19 against Zebre. They then snipped the Ospreys 19-15 at home.
Edinburgh lost 20-21 at home to Gloucester in January, before going on a three-match winning streak.
That was followed by a 21-25 home defeat at the hands of the Stormers, before losing to the Lions 40-10 at Ellis Park.
That was followed by a 21-25 home defeat at the hands of the Stormers, before losing to the Lions 40-10 at Ellis Park.
In January the Sharks beat Oyonnax 38-7 at Kings Park, followed by a 29-9 away win over the Gwent Dragons.
Both teams have won three of their last five games.
Edinburgh are up in sixth place with 34 points from their 12 matches, but there are fives team them close enough to steal a playoff spot from the Scots.
The Sharks right now are back on the bottom of the table after Zebre and the Dragons picked up points from their matches earlier, but a Sharks win could see them up to 13th place if the Scarlets don't win.
Good afternoon and welcome to Kings Park stadium in Durban, South Africa, where the Sharks host Edinburgh in Round 13 of the URC!