Cell C Sharks had to come from behind to secure a 28-23 bonus point victory, over a valiant Leinster in the United Rugby Championship this evening.

Two tries in each half saw the hosts pick up all five points, lifting them further up the URC table. A great defensive unit which could also produce tries, became a key component in the win, as was the kicking of Curwin Bosch when he needed to convert their tires.

Despite the best efforts of Centre Ciaran Frawley, the Irish province went down by five points in the end not the result they had envisioned coming into the contest, and will have to assess the fixture before their next outing with the DHL Stormers.

The Sharks looked the brighter in the early exchanges, working the ball well before having a kick at the posts for their first attempt at points, but the kick from Bosch drifted just wide of the mark.

Again the hosts looked dangerous, Ben Tapaui broke clear and was away on goal, before play was brought back as they were penalised for crossing. Bosch had another long range attempt at the posts after 12 minutes but it went wide, despite having the range.

Leinster began to come alive in the tie shortly after, gaining ground on the Sharks before Scott Penny drove over to get the Irish province on the board with an opening try, Frawley adding the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Immediately after the hosts crossed for their first try of the contest, Makazole Mapimpi stole possession from a Leinster offload, running clear to touch under the posts, Bosch levelling with the conversion.

Frawley put Leinster back ahead after 28 minutes, landing a penalty from 40 metres out to give them a narrow three point advantage. He turned provider with a lovely cross field kick minutes later, as Tommy O’Brien sprinted down the line to dot in the corner, Frawleys conversion making it 17-10.

The hosts hit back again this time just before the half time break, Jaden Hendrikse managing to cross for their second try and with Bosch making his second conversion of the evening, they trailed by three points at the interval.

Frawley continued his impressive display shortly after the restart, kicking his tenth point of the fixture, landing another penalty to push the Irish outfit further ahead.

Bongi Mbonambi was next to cross for the visitors, they worked well to get the ball close to the line and off a driving maul the powerful hooker drove over to score, Bosch again on hand to put them a point ahead, 21-20 after 50 minutes.

Frawley was becoming the main Leinster output for scores in the tie, the centre kicking his third penalty to put the visitors back into the lead, narrowly ahead by just two points.

Then came blow after blow for the league leaders, first Josh Murphy was shown a yellow card then Lee Barron also saw yellow, after more pressure on their line caused another player to go to the bin, as the referee had said, to cut out all cyclical play.

With 65 minutes on the clock, Sharks again went ahead this time it was the big number eight Phepsi Buthelezi who took his chance well finding the try line, Bosch added his eight point of the tie with a fourth consecutive conversion attempt.

The hosts could have made it five tries in the end but a forward pass had ruled out the score, despite Leinster attacking well they failed to breach the hosts again, they were short of the line when they lost possession, only to win it hack deep into injury time, knowing they needed a try they worked the phases but again had the possession turned over.