By: Simtho Dladla
The Sharks have delivered an impressive performance to beat Gloucester 36-12 to become the first South African team to win EPCR Challenge Cup final in London.
Tries in the second half from Makazole Mapimpi and Aphelele Fassi put the game beyond doubt, though tries from Albert Tuisue and two in the final minutes from Freddie Clarke and Santiago Socino gave the scoreline a flattering look to the Cherry and Whites.
Both tries were converted by Masuku, who finished the game having kicked eight from nine off the tee for a personal contribution of 21 points. Santiago Socino and Freddie Clarke did register consolation scores to give the Gloucester faithful something to cheer but it was a night where nothing truly clicked for the Premiership side, especially when the game was still in the balance.
The Sharks booked themselves a place in next season’s Investec Champions Cup and made the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoff permutations even more complicated as only seven sides will qualify for the Champions Cup, and not eight.
[advanced_iframe src=”<iframe src=”https://streaming.fabrik.fm/fabrik/echocast/player/rewind-single/player.html?id=6d2fc469-1aa3-455c-8e71-36fc65de6156&web_url=https://echocast.fabrik.fm/2Y3KBnJQ7pLr2&podcast_id=ced0e5bd-8d8f-4528-bd37-fcfec91f9db9″ width=28% height=200px frameborder><a>Podcast stream by Fabrik.fm</a></iframe>” width=”100%” height=”200″]image: (J. Sibley/Reuters)
