The Sharks were guilty of too many handling and kicking mistakes in their battle against the Sunwolves, according to SARugbymag.co.za's Opta-powered stats.

The Sharks beat the Sunwolves 40-29 at Kings Park on Friday. There are some positives to take out of the performance. For starters, Gary Gold's side has done enough to advance to the Super Rugby playoffs.

The Sharks scored six tries against the Sunwolves. They made as many as 599 running metres and 11 clean breaks, which is even more impressive when one considers that they had just 39% of the possession.

That said, it was anything put a polished performance.

The Sharks spilled the ball 16 times on attack. What will concern Gold and the Sharks coaches is that the Sunwolves defence managed to force a whopping 11 turnovers over the course of the game.

The Sharks defence was not at its best. The hosts missed 20 tackles, and battled to put the Sunwolves under pressure at the set pieces. The stats show that the Sunwolves lost just one lineout in 80 minutes.

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