The Sharks survived a late scare and a disallowed try after the fulltime hooter to claim their first Vodacom URC win against the DHL Stormers in Durban on Saturday.

Andre Esterhuizen’s second-half score saw the Sharks battle to a 21-15 victory at a sold-out Kings Park, improve to 4-2 on the season and end their URC drought in this rivalry.

The DHL Stormers thought they had snatched a late victory after Manie Libbok galloped across the line after the hooter, but the try was disallowed by the TMO who spotted an earlier knock-on from the flyhalf.

This came after the visitors were given hope when Aphelele Fassi conceded a penalty try in the final minute of play, earning himself a yellow card after a sensational solo performance.

However, John Dobson’s side had plenty of opportunities to cause an upset in a scrappy encounter, after the Sharks had raced into a 14-0 lead in the first half through tries from Siya Kolisi and Ethan Hooker.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu got the visitors on the board with a 49-metre drop goal, but missed a penalty, as did Libbok when he came on as a concussion replacement. There was also a knock-on from Warrick Gelant before half time, when a pass would have set up a certain try.

The Stormers finally broke the wall when Leolin Zas outpaced Fassi down the left wing to touch down Gelant’s grubber kick. However, the Sharks capitalised on two poor errors from Libbok and Herschel Jantjies to set up Esterhuizen’s decisive try.

Next up for the South African teams is the first round of the Champions Cup, with the Sharks hosting Exeter Chiefs, while the Stormers will take on Toulon at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.