Mvovo grabs a double as Sharks put the bite on Force

Lwazi Mvovo ran in two of seven tries by the Sharks to inspire his team to an emphatic 53-11 victory over the Western Force in their Super Rugby match at Kings Park. The left wing struck twice in five minutes early in the second half as the Sharks climbed to sixth in the table by inflicting the ninth defeat in 11 matches for their Australian opponents.

Force stand-off David Harvey and opposite number Patrick Lambie traded early penalties before the Sharks grabbed the first try when lock Steven Sykes barged over from close range.

Lambie kicked a simple conversion but Harvey narrowed the gap to four points with ten minutes to go in the first half by booting his second penalty.

The rest of the half belonged to the Sharks as they scored ten points in six minutes. Lambie set up the second try when he broke free on the halfway line before drawing the last defender to send outside centre Paul Jordaan on a clear run to the line.

Lambie kicked the conversion before he landed a penalty on the stroke of half time as the Sharks went to the break 20-6 ahead. The home team stamped their authority on the contest with

three tries in the first ten minutes of the second period.

Fullback Louis Ludik notched the first after forward Keegan Daniel took a quick tap penalty. Then 25-year-old Mvovo, who has played four Tests for South Africa, took centre stage.

His first try came when he intercepted a loose pass on his own 22-metre line and outstripped the defence. Five minutes later he collected his own kick ahead before setting off on a 70-metre run for a converted touchdown.

The Sharks continued their dominance with two late tries from replacement hooker Craig Burden and flanker Jacques Botes before right wing Samu Wara dived over in the corner for a late consolation for the Force.

Meanwhile, the Melbourne Rebels scored two second-half tries in four minutes to stun the Canterbury Crusaders and secure a rousing 28-19 home victory. Fired by a brace of tries from scrum-half Nick Phipps and incisive kicking from veteran back Mark Gerrard, the Rebels kept the Crusaders scoreless for an entire half to register only their third win of the season in front of an ecstatic crowd of 18,000.

The Crusaders’ shock loss weakened their position in the

southern hemisphere provincial tournament’s top six and was

compounded by injury to No.8 enforcer Kieran Read.