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Ben Lam's 11-minutes of carnage leaves South African fans scratching their heads over Sharks' defence

By Online Editors
(Photo by Elias Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Hurricanes winger Ben Lam's second-half burst propelled the Hurricanes away from the Durban-visitors in their home opener at Sky Stadium.

The prolific try-scorer left multiple Sharks' defenders clutching on two dazzling runs.

The first came after juggling a cross-field kick, then a scamper down a tight sideline corridor leaving young fullback Aphelele Fassi empty-handed before sliding over from a couple of metres out.

His second try came from a counter-attacking kick return as he called for the ball from Jordie Barrett before cooking Sharks flanker Tyler Paul with an in-and-out move one-on-one. With Paul left stranded, Lam coasted through the empty Sharks' backfield to score another long-range beauty.

Lam touched down for his 29th Super Rugby try in his 41st game, a strike rate of 0.70. It has been all uphill for Lam since taking over the 11 jersey from former All Black Julian Savea in 2018 when he scored a season-leading 16 tries.

Many Kiwi fans see a black jersey in Lam's future.

While on the other side, South African fans were concerned with the defence shown by the previously undefeated Sharks, including 22-year-old Springbok hopeful Aphelele Fassi who has been a star in the opening two weeks.

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