WATCH: Aphiwe Dyantyi monstered by Irish duo in first Sharks home game

After serving a four year suspension for a doping offence, electric winger Aphiwe Dyantyi is back in action and looking to make a name for himself yet again, this time with the Sharks in Durban.

Unfortunately for him, the Sharks are struggling. Badly.

After an overseas tour that comprised of four losses, they returned home to Durban hoping to right the wrongs and pick up a bit of momentum, buoyed by the inclusion of Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am.

Connacht had other ideas though, as the Irish side stood up physically and edged a 13-12 win on the road, adding to the misery of the Sharks and keeping them firmly at the bottom of the United Rugby Championship table.

The URC table after five rounds. The top 5 have four wins each, while the Sharks sit at the bottom of the table with zero from five. #unitedrugbychampionship #urc pic.twitter.com/SzWoSMS78z

— Grant Constable (@GrantConstable) November 19, 2023

With four wins from five, Connacht are up to fourth on the log and were deserving winners against a Sharks team that despite multiple opportunities, just couldn’t convert on all the promise of their exciting backs in particular.

Former Springbok star Dyantyi, World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018, looked promising at times and showed the glimpses of the brilliance that made him a star before things took an unfortunate turn in his career.

After going down a try, the Sharks built some momentum and had a good opportunity with ball in hand at the 21 minute mark. Dyantyi tried to hit the line hard just a few meters out, but was hit even harder, being absolutely destroyed by the tackling duo of forwards Denis Buckley and Cian Predergast.

🦅 @connachtrugby have ??????? in South Africa ⛔️

They lead by 5 with 35 minutes to play. #BKTURC #URC | #SHAvCON pic.twitter.com/Y7ve5ruoeX

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 18, 2023

The industrious winger survived and kept trying throughout, but while the Sharks did score two tries to one, JJ Hanrahan put the visitors in front with fifteen minutes to go, and the Sharks missed kicks at goal from Curwin Bosch and Boeta Chamberlain.

It was a great victory on the road for Connacht, and the Sharks fans will have to wait a little longer for that first win.

Howzit! 🇿🇦

The bodies may be a bit sore this morning but that’s what it takes when winning in the land of physicality 💪#ConnachtRugby pic.twitter.com/ERE8NYhf8i

— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) November 19, 2023

Connacht travel to Pretoria to take on the Bulls in round six, while the Sharks will host the Dragons in Durban.