Bok trio star for Sharks - TimesLIVE

Sharks coach JP Pietersen, in pre-season, spoke about the importance of understanding the history of the club and being true to its legacy and the players who make up the archives.

As a player, Pietersen debuted for the Sharks as a 19-year-old and played 197 matches across all competitions.

He understands the history and is at the forefront of the club’s modern player legacy.

Pietersen, a 2007 World Cup-winning Springbok winger, was also emphatic that his group of players had to produce a style of rugby that spoke to the Sharks’ glory days and got locals excited enough to simply have to be at Kings Park.

If anything, in their United Rugby Championship opener (URC) yesterday, the Sharks delivered early glimpses of all those elements in their 41-24 win against Ospreys of Wales.

They played with energy, enthusiasm and conviction, albeit with too much inaccuracy, which was the by-product of being overzealous.

The Sharks scored within five minutes through No 8 Nick Hatton. Vusi Moyo’s conversion made it 7-0 and the four-try bonus point was secured by the 35th minute.

Moyo had converted all four tries, the Sharks led 28-7 and Springbok scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was masterful in controlling the game.

The Sharks were in overdrive. Then it stalled.

The Ospreys, impotent in attack but full of fury in any collision, won a series of penalties just before half-time. The reward was a maul try, turned into seven points with the conversion.

The visitors struck again, five minutes into the second half, and the control they held at 28-7 translated to temporary home-team chaos at 28-19.

Litelihle Bester, a consistent attacking threat on the Sharks’ left wing, surged forward, broke a tackle and looked sure to arrest the momentum shift in the 48th minute, only for fullback Luan Giliomee to drop the pass and cough up a certain try.

It had the potential to be a pivotal moment in a strange contest, in which the Ospreys never threatened to win the match but never seemed out of it. Credit to them for refusing to go away quietly.

Moyo restored a buffer with his first penalty in the 51st minute and the Sharks again had a plus two-try advantage.

The one-Test Moyo, just 20 years old, added a second penalty four minutes later to make it six from six off the kicking tee.

Moyo, who was excellent at No 10, provided a pinpoint cross-kick for right-winger Suleiman Hartzenberg to score but the try was disallowed for an earlier Sharks knock-on.

Giliomee added the necessary try-scoring buffer a few minutes later, his second of the afternoon, but there was still time in the final 10 minutes for the visitors to score for a fourth time and get a league point for their efforts.

Individually, Springboks Moyo, Hendrikse and flanker Phepsi Buthelezi were the standouts for the Sharks, with Giliomee also very good.

Collectively, the Sharks’ set piece, at scrum time and from attacking lineout mauls, was particularly strong.