The Sharks have not lost in Jozie since 2001 and few would have believed it possible for the emaciated Lions to be able to change the trend. But give them their due they put up a hell of an attempt and oh so nearly sent the Sharks home with their hands in their head.

However there is no substitute for class and the Sharks showed throughout the match that on skill and ability alone they deserved to be the victors. They quickly went to work rattling up 19 points in the first 20 minutes and record books were being reached for as the signs were looking ominous for the Lions who were totally outplayed in the first quarter. But as has happen with way too much frequency the Sharks lost their control on the game and allowed a gutsy Lions team who for once could look to Spencer for inspiration, to claw back into contention.

At the end the Sharks had enough left in them in the vanishing minutes on the match to control the play and hang onto the win and the dream of making the playoffs.  There are some massive crunch games ahead if they are to produce the biggest comeback in Super 14 history, and you have to believe that they will need to win all the remaining matches with a bonus point if that hallucination of a semi final berth can become a reality.

There are some positive signs in the Sharks team though, the side is playing with confidence and there is not the panic that was present in the early matches when they get behind on the scoreboard. Patrick Lambie continues to impress at fullback and Pienaar has been a revelation at scrumhalf who is striking the ball with tremendous accuracy. The scrum looks solid where we find John Smit faithfully proving to be the greatest ‘front row all rounder ‘in rugby history. Having said all that there is still not the old Sharks spark igniting the backline and loads of work to be done if they are going to beat the likes of the Stormers and Bulls.

The dream is still alive, the momentum is gathering, the Sharks are running who dares to stop them?