Red card 'galvanised' Sharks
Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis praised the character of his team, after overcoming an early red card to beat the Crusaders on New Zealand soil for the first time.
Replacement Kyle Cooper scored a 75th-minute try to lift a Sharks team – reduced to 14 men for 63 minutes and to 13 during the second half – to a 30-25 win – the first win by South African team over the Crusaders in New Zealand since the Cats last did so in Nelson in 2001.
Cooper's try forced the fifth and final lead change of the second half, clinching the Shark's ninth win in 12 matches.
Flank Jean Deysel was shown a red card in the 17th minute for a vicious, off-the-ball stomp on the face of Crusaders back row forward Jordan Taufua – who, at the time was holding back the Sharks player, a tactic that went unpunished, despite continuously being employed by the Kiwi players throughout the match.
His loss seemed an insurmountable handicap to the Sharks but, instead, seemed to galvanise the Durban-based side – who extended their stay in first place and ended the Crusaders' impressive five-match winning streak.
The Sharks were left even further under-manned in the 64th minute when No. 8 Willem Alberts was sin-binned for taking out a player off the ball – the first time in he match a Sharks player was guilty of this.
Yet, Australian referee Rohan Hoffmann saw fit to whip out a card, despite overlooking the same transgression when committed by Crusaders players.
Though reduced to 13 men through a crucial passage of the match, the Sharks still managed to fight back to reclaim the lead.
"I must say I'm really, really proud of the guys and especially for Jannie [du Plessis] and Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] playing their 100th games," the Sharks skipper, Bismarck du Plessis, said.
"It's very emotional for us.
"We've been here and come close, but we've never won here so it's a big thing for us."
Du Plessis admits the early departure of Deysel ultimately worked in their favour.
"A red card that early in the game just brings the team so much closer together.
"Everybody talked so much, it made my job [as captain] so much easier," he said.
"I won't say that I would like another red card early next week [against the Blues in Albany], but it did bring the guys a lot closer."
Crusaders captain Ryan Crotty bemoaned his team's inability to make their numerical advantage count.
"It's disappointing to let that one get away," Crotty said.
"They did well to slow the game down, they played smart and we didn't execute as well as we should have.
"Our execution at times let us down, and our discipline also let us down – especially when we got in front we let them back in.
"There were some lapses in concentration as well."
