The Sharks smashed the Highlanders 38-12 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday night in one of the great South African Super Rugby performances of recent times.
The South African side outscored the normally stingy New Zealand team by five tries to two, and earned a bonus point to move into the playoff positions above their local rivals, the Stormers and the Bulls.
The Sharks' performances have been bipolar this season, as they have either been very good or incredibly bad. Against the Highlanders, they decided to bring their very best form to stadium and would have warmed the heart of Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus with their performance over New Zealand opposition.
The Sharks' forwards were abrasive and deadly at set piece time, while their backs were clinical and made great decisions on the night.
The Sharks knocked the wind out of the Highlanders in the very first minute, when captain Ruan Botha got on the end of a kick, before passing to hooker Akker van der Merwer to score.
The Sharks thought they had another try in the fifth minute, but centre André Esterhuizen dropped the ball over the tryline. However, they would eventually get their second two minutes later when wing Makazole Mapimpi finished off well after a powerful scrum by the home side.
The Highlanders, who beat the Bulls the previous week with less than 30 percent of the ball, opened their account in the 27th minute when Dillon Hunt pealed away from a maul to score.
But the Sharks would go into the break 17-7 up after flyhalf Robert du Preez nailed a penalty shortly before halftime.
The Sharks started the second half where they left off in the first. Quick passing and a lovely break from outside centre Lukhanyo Am led to No 8 Dan du Preez going over close to the posts.
The Sharks scored their fourth try of the day when Rob Du Preez's well-weighted grubber kick was pounced on by right wing S'bu Nkosi, who had to dive to dot down and prevent the ball from going over the tryline.
The Sharks then scored what would turn out to be their bonus-point try when fullback Curwin Boch started a counter attack and ran straight through the Highlanders' team before offloading to Rob du Preez to score.
The Highlanders scored a late try in the 74th minute when inside centre Teihorangi Walden finished off after a great run by Ben Smith. But it was too little, too late, as the Sharks ended up celebrating a memorable win.