Cardiff became the first Welsh region to win in South Africa since the United Rugby Championship’s expansion with a bonus-point victory at Sharks.
In a rain-soaked first half in Durban, flanker Thomas Young forced a penalty try before dotting down another.
Young continued to star after the break, scoring from a driving maul before Ben Thomas added a fourth try.
Sharks’ day was summed up when Francois Venter touched down only to be denied a try on review by the TMO.
Fly-half Jarrod Evans was at the heart of Cardiff’s performance, putting a couple of early handling errors behind him to finish with five kicks out of seven, his tactical kicking and distribution also impressive.
But Cardiff played the tricky conditions far better than their hosts and dominated at the breakdown in a performance that will have director of rugby Dai Young purring.
Cardiff were without 11 players due to Wales duty and injuries, Taulupe Faletau, Tomos Williams, Rhys Priestland, Josh Adams, Josh Navidi, Willis Halaholo, Liam Williams, Dillon Lewis, Owen Lane, Matthew Morgan and Jacob Beetham not travelling to South Africa.
Sharks were also trimmed by international calls, with Jaden Hendrikse, Makazole Mapimpi, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche all on tour with the Springboks.
Cardiff started the day two points and two places ahead of Sharks in the URC table in seventh, but having played two games more, and the result raises them to sixth with the South African side dropping to 12th.
An early Evans penalty got Cardiff’s noses in front at a soggy and sparsely populated Kings Park.
When Evans spilled a greasy high ball and Cardiff compounded the mistake by infringing at the ruck, Sharks looked to take advantage – kicking the penalty for an attacking lineout.
The visitors’ try line was under threat as Sharks moved towards the posts, only for Josh Turnbull to put in a crunching tackle and then get his hands over the ball at the ruck to earn a relieving penalty.
But the skipper was sin-binned soon after by referee Frank Murphy, after Turnbull clashed heads with Anthony Volmink as he tackled the Sharks full-back.
As conditions worsened, Cardiff managed to weather the temporary loss of their captain by driving possession around the fringes and kicking intelligently.
As Sharks tried to run the ball out of their 22 they again allowed Cardiff defenders to get over the prone carrier, this time prop Dmitri Arhip earning a penalty that was in Evans’ range to double the lead.
Turnbull’s return coincided with the departure of Sharks’ Marnus Potgieter to the sin bin.
The wing slapped the ball dead to prevent Thomas Young, son of boss Dai, dabbing down his own grubber kick in the in-goal area, giving up a penalty try in the process.
Sharks continued to try and run their way out of trouble in conditions that did not lend themselves to expansive rugby and Cardiff continued to lay traps at the breakdown.
Centre Rey Lee-Lo was this time the player on the jackal, handing Evans a third penalty kick at goal that stretched the Welsh lead to 16-0.
Sharks were all at sea and shipped a second try before half-time, another scrappy breakdown seeing the ball squirt free and hacked on by a Cardiff foot.
Volmink was back to cover but spilled the ball as he looked around for options, and Lloyd Williams flicked the ball back for the rampaging Young to score in the left corner. Evans kept up his 100% record with the boot to slot the tricky conversion.
A dominant driving maul resulted in a third Cardiff try soon after half-time, with Young the man to benefit for his second of the match.
Evans crafted the bonus-point try with his delayed pass sending full-back Thomas to the line and added the conversion to nudge Cardiff’s lead to an eye-catching 35-0 with not even an hour on the clock.
Sharks thought they had finally got on the scoreboard when Venter gathered a ricochet to go under the posts, only for the try to be chalked off for an accidental offside after the TMO’s late intervention.
Evans missed a pot at goal as the South African side continued to leak penalties, but it scarcely mattered with the shell-shocked Sharks so far adrift and having become the first domestic South African former Super Rugby side to allow a Welsh win on their territory.
Sharks: Anthony Volmink; Marnus Potgieter, Francois Venter, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Werner Kok; Boeta Chamberlain, Cameron Wright; Dian Bleuler, Kerron van Vuuren, Carlü Sadie, Justin Basson, Gerbrandt Grobler, James Venter (capt), Vincent Tshituka, Sikhumbuzo Notshe.
Replacements: Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Khutha Mchunu, Hyron Andrews, Phepsi Buthelezi, Bradley Davids, Lionel Cronje, Ben Tapuai.
Cardiff Rugby: Ben Thomas; Jason Harries, Rey Lee-Lo, Max Llewellyn, Theo Cabango; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Rhys Carré, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Lopeti Timani, Rory Thornton, Josh Turnbull (capt), Thomas Young, James Botham.
Replacements: Kristian Dacey, Corey Domachowski, Will Davies-King, Seb Davies, Gwilym Bradley, James Ratti, Ellis Bevan, Mason Grady.
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron & Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)
TMO: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
