Cardiff slumped to their first home defeat of the season as the Sharks secured a 36-21 bonus-point victory at the Arms Park. Tries from Ethan Hooker, Matt Romao (twice), Jason Jenkins, Thomas du Toit and Ethan Bester, plus six points from the boots of Gianni Lombard and Siya Masuku, powered the South African side to victory in the Welsh capital.
James Botham (twice) and Josh Adams crossed for Cardiff's tries, while Jarrod Evans added six points. Here are the player ratings from the match.
Backs and Half-Backs
15. Cam Winnett (7) The 23-year-old was a dependable presence in the back field. There were some nice touches, his kicking out of hand was good, and he put Josh Adams over for Cardiff's opening try.
14. Josh Adams (7) The Wales wing touched down early doors and was generally solid throughout the 80 minutes. Adams held his own defensively and there were some strong carries, along with three linebreaks.
13. Le Roux Malan (7) The Namibian international has proved to be a shrewd bit of business by the Welsh club. Malan sliced open the Sharks defence in the lead-up to Adams' try and was a threat throughout.
12. Steff Emanuel (7) This was another promising display from the Wales U20s co-captain who is destined for big things. The 20-year-old carried the ball well while he made an impressive 15 tackles. Yes, there were some errors, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and he is getting better with every game.
11. Harri Millard (5) The 30-year-old is a safe pair of hands, especially in defence, but he didn't make much headway with ball in hand. He had his hands full with the Sharks' dangerous back-three.
10. Jarrod Evans (6) The Wales international showed flashes with ball in hand, while his clever kick behind the Sharks' defence gave Cardiff the field position which eventually led to James Botham's first try. But he failed to deal with a high ball straight after Cardiff had taken the field, which resulted in a Sharks score.
9. Johan Mulder (7) The South African scrum-half was good yet again. Mulder's service and box kicking is very good, while he also made a linebreak in the first half. He also won three turnovers.
Forwards and Replacements
8. Taine Basham (8) This has been quite the week for Basham, who won a well-deserved recall to the Wales squad. He was one of Cardiff's better forwards on Friday night, finishing as the game's top carrier with 16, while he also made 11 tackles.
7. James Botham (8, star man) The 28-year-old was particularly impressive defensively, putting in an outstanding shift to help keep Cardiff in the contest. He finished the game as the top tackler with 22, three of which were try-saving tackles. Botham also claimed two tries.
6. Alex Mann (6) It was a tough outing for Mann against a very physical Sharks backrow. But he did make 14 tackles and won one turnover penalty.
5. Teddy Williams (5) Williams put in a big defensive shift, making 13 tackles, but he was part of a front five that got dominated by the Sharks. He was also part of a lineout that faltered.
4. Josh McNally (6) The former England lock worked his socks off and was second only to James Botham in the tackle charts with 16. He made five carries, but the Cardiff front-five struggled against a powerful Sharks outfit, while the lineout was also a problem.
3. Javan Sebastian (5) The former Scotland prop got given a torrid time at the scrum by the South African outfit. But he did make a respectable 11 tackles.
2. Liam Belcher (5) Cardiff's lineout struggled yet again, yielding only a 50% success rate, which needs to be higher against a team like the Sharks. Belcher was busy around the park, but the Sharks front-row dominated.
1. Scott Sio (5) The experienced former Wallaby made a couple of decent carries but was under the pump at the scrum. Replaced at half-time.
Impact from the Bench
16. Evan Lloyd (6) Lloyd made a decent impact and provided a jackal threat and some much-needed physicality.
17. Danny Southworth (4) Came under real pressure at scrum time and knocked on over the line early in the second half. He also spilled the ball forward as Cardiff looked to build an attack in the Sharks' half.
18. Keiron Assiratti (4) This was his first game back after a lengthy injury lay-off, and he got pushed backwards at the scrum by Ox Nche.
19. Tom Manz (N/A) Didn't come on.
20. Semisi Paea (5) Paea was a second-half replacement but struggled to make an impact.
21. Aled Davies (5) Sharp service and kicked well, but he was on the back foot.
22. Callum Sheedy (N/A) Not on for long enough.
23. Tom Bowen Tried his best to make some headway with ball in hand, but the Sharks defence was too strong.
