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Flyhalf Robert Du Preez racked up 38 points in the Sharks’ entertaining 63-40 victory over the Blues at Eden Park.
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The fly-half was successful with all 13 of his kicks and scored one of six Sharks tries, setting a new Super 15 era record and moving into second place for all-time single-game hauls.
The home side crossed five times in the second half but unable to prevent a fourth defeat out of five.
Head coach Tana Umaga branded the home loss “embarrassing” after the match.
The Sharks jumped out to an early lead through tries to captain Ruan Botha and openside flanker Jean Luc du Preez. Robert du Preez’s boot converted both tries and kicked four penalties in the first spell to give the visitors a 26-7 advantage at the break.
Things opened up in the second half, with nine tries scored between the two sides.
A yellow card to Sharks winger Sbu Nkosi opened the door for a Blues comeback, with the Auckland side scoring three unanswered tries to come storming back and take 28-26 lead.
Number Eight Akira Ioane picked up his sixth try of the season after having one disallowed in the first half, and young flyhalf Stephen Perofeta sliced through the Sharks defence to score a 60-metre counter attacking try in his run-on season debut.
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Unfortunately, the Blues’ lead would last just two minutes before they leaked three tries themselves, including two to Number Eight Tera Mtembu.
The Blues scored two more tries through Rieko Ioane and George Moala – who shifted to the wing after Melani Nanai left injured in the opening stanza – but the Sharks had the last laugh, with livewire fullback Curwin Bosch galloping 60-metres to score untouched after the final siren.
SHARKS 63 (Botha, J. Du Preez, Mtembu, R. du Preez, van Wyk, Bosch tries; R. Du Preez 6 cons, 7 pens) BLUES 40 (Collins, A. Ioane, Tuipulotu, Perofeta, R. Ioane, Moala tries; Perofeta 5 cons) HT 26-7
