FULL TIME! 36-30. How the Sharks lost that from 27-7 up and half time only they will know. But Connacht were superb in the second half, matched by the lack of intensity and fight from the Sharks. Great comeback from the Irish side.
PENALTY! SHARKS! MASUKU! 36-30. Masuku slots it to secure the losing bonus point.
Sharks do get the penalty. And Masuku will look for the three points. Not an easy kick, about 43 meters on the angle.
PENALTY! CONNACHT! FORDE! 36-27. It's over and Connacht have secured the win and likely taken the bonus point away from the Sharks.
Penalty to Connacht. Very kickable. If they kick it, the Sharks will leave without any points.
Sharks give away another penalty while being in possession. Last season was bad, but this second half takes the cake for the Durban side.
Connacht win the penalty on the ground inside their own 22. Sharks forwards are nowhere near the pace of the game.
Sharks have a lineout just outside Connacht's 22. They need to strike now.
CONVERSION! FORDE! 33-27. Connacht are six points ahead after being 20 down at the break. Sharks have been shocking.
TRY! CONNACHT! DOWLING! 31-27. Dowling goes over from close range and Connacht have come back to lead this game.
Connacht score but the TMO calls the referee in and it is called as offside. We go back to the penalty advantage. Connacht in full attack mode here.
Connacht win the penalty on the ground on halfway. Sharks have not pitched up for this second half.
Relieving penalty to the Sharks on their own 22. They need to get some points and fix their discipline.
Sharks win a penalty inside Connacht's half. Masuku makes a massive error, kicking it dead. That is a shocker from the flyhalf.
Did the Sharks think they had won the game at the break? They've offered nothing in the second half and the changes have made no difference.
CONVERSION! FORDE! 26-27. Forde slots this with ease.
TRY! CONNACHT! JENNINGS! 24-27. That is horrid from the Sharks. They go through about eight phases but go nowhere on the 22 before Meyer throws a speculative pass and Jennings intercepts and runs 70 meters to score.
Forde misses the conversion from out wide. Still two scores in it.
TRY! CONNACHT! HEFFERNAN! 19-27. Another maul try for the hooker. Connacht are right back in this game.
Scrum penalty to Connacht. Lineout on the Sharks 5m line.
Connacht have come out with much more intensity here. They have a scrum on the Sharks 22. The hosts are not out of this game yet.
Relieving penalty for Connacht on their own 22 for a neck roll.
CONVERSION! IOANE! 14-27. Ioane makes no mistake with a simple kick. That is what Connacht needed to start the second half.
TRY! CONNACHT! FORDE! 12-27. Connacht are finding the Sharks defence tough to beat so they chip over, Hansen collects and pops inside for Forde to score.
KICK OFF! 7-27. We are underway in the second half.
HALF TIME! 7-27. That was a strange half of rugby. The first 20 minutes the Sharks couldn't get out of their half but Connacht only managed the one try. Then the Sharks woke up, Connacht's discipline disappeared and Esterhuizen scored a brace, Grobler added another, Masuku slotted three conversions and Hendrikse smashed two monster penalties. A lot of work for Connacht to get back into this.
CONVERSION! MASUKU! 7-27. Masuku fades this one just inside the uprights.
TRY! SHARKS! GROBLER! 7-25. Grobler scores off the back of a maul. Was a bit messy but job done.
PENALTY! SHARKS! HENDRIKSE! 7-20. That is some kick by Hendrikse, quite ridiculous actually. 63 meters officially, apparently.
Hendrikse going for goal again. This is about 60 meters on an angle. Tough kick this.
Connacht's attacking suddenly struggling to make headway. Sharks have certainly upped their game.
CONVERSION! MASUKU! 7-17. Masuku slots the extras.
TRY! SHARKS! ESTERHUIZEN. 7-15. Connacht have no answer to Esterhuizen's power. The centre is over again.
Hansen takes chance to let a ball bounce in his own 22, but it works out and it's a goal line dropout.
PENALTY! SHARKS! HENDRIKSE! 7-10. From halfway, Hendrikse nails this kick straight down the middle. He would have comfortably cleared 60 meters on that, what a kick, just like last week.
Sharks getting some momentum now. First Ioane overhits the kick off and Sharks opt for midfield scrum, from which they win a penalty.
CONVERSION! MASUKU! 7-7. Masuku makes no mistake with the conversion on a slight angle.
TRY! SHARKS! ESTERHUIZEN! 7-5. It goes straight off the top of the lineout and Esterhuizen runs a brilliant line to score.
Sharks eventually get some possession and win a penalty. Very gettable three points but they opt for the lineout.
Sharks give another free kick away at the scrum. They have started this game so slowly. Maybe still recovering from the Currie Cup win last week.
Very stop-start this game at the moment. Both teams have also had a couple injury breaks.
Connacht are not making great meters but their tactical awareness has been superb. Sharks are pinned in their own half.
The Sharks have a scrum just outside their own 22. The visitors have had no territory thus far, they will want to get into the game soonish.
Murphy with a chip over the top, they get a good bounce but Hansen knocks it on.
Another penalty to Connacht as the Sharks are pinged for not rolling away. Ioane finds touch just outside the Sharks 22.
CONVERSION! IOANE! 7-0. Good start for the flyhalf as he converts from a tough angle.
TRY! CONNACHT! HEFFERNAN! 5-0. The maul is well set and Sharks cannot defend it.
O’Conor makes a brilliant break in the outside channel. Connacht cannot capitilise but they win the penalty and set the lineout up on the visitors 5m line.
KICK OFF! 0-0. Connacht get proceedings underway and immediately the Sharks knock it on.
Kick off is at 20:35 SAST. Join us then for all the live action and updates.
The Sharks are still missing a lot of players due to their international commitments but they will return in the coming weeks. However, the Durban side has built some good depth in order to compete when players are missing.
Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Reniel Hugo, 21 Tino Mavesere, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Gurshwin Wehr.
Connacht: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Cian Prendergast (captain), 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Paul Boyle.
Connacht on the other hand lost 35-33 at home in round one to Munster. They will want to bounce back with a win on home soil, a ground they are normally tough to beat at.
This is the second round of the URC but this is the Sharks first game. They won the Currie Cup in dramatic fashion last weekend against the Lions, so confidence will be high in the group.
These sides have met on four occasions with each winning two. However, the last two have gone in Connacht's favour, including a 13-12 win in Durban last season.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Connacht vs Sharks United Rugby Championship fixture live from the Dexcom Stadium, home of Connacht.
