Two rising stars of South African rugby produced moments of magic to lift the Sharks to 19-17 Super 14 win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night.

Young Springboks Ryan Kankowski and Francois Steyn ensured the Sharks maintained their unbeaten record this season after helping the visitors overturn a 14-3 deficit at Carisbrook.

Trailing 17-11 at halftime, Sharks' No.8 Kankowski brought an even tussle to life with a brilliant try 80 seconds after the break.

He used anticipation to burst on to a pass from Highlanders halfback Toby Morland off cleanly won lineout ball, intercepting and sporting a wide smile as he cleared away more than 50m to score.

The only other points of an error-riddled second half came from Steyn, who produced one of his long-range specials - a 55m penalty shot with 25 minutes remaining - to give the Sharks the lead.

Try as they might, the Highlanders couldn't crack the renowned Sharks defence and add to last week's first victory of the season over the Lions.

The best chance was a missed penalty attempt from 45m out by five-eighth James Wilson with six minutes remaining on the clock.

"We dominated the whole game but we went off the boil and let them back into it, especially in the last 10 minutes," Sharks captain Johan Muller said.

For the gutsy Highlanders, it was a return to the close losses that have dominated their season, while the Sharks have become adept at winning tight scrapes.

"We showed tonight we're not that far off the pace," Highlanders captain Craig Newby said.

"It's our fifth close loss but a bit of a downer after last week's high."

Both teams scored two tries, with the Highlanders bagging both of theirs in the opening 20 minutes against one of the premier defensive sides in the competition.

Highlanders winger Fetu'u Vainikolo showed his strength to open the scoring in the seventh minute, shrugging off three attempted tackles to barrel over after a slick backline injection from fullback Paul Williams.

Their second try went to prop Clint Newland, driving over from close range after another Vainikolo surge.

Two penalties to halfback Ruan Pienaar was all the Sharks had to show for the opening half hour but they crossed soon afterwards through flanker Jacques Botes after some clever interpassing.

Five-eighth James Wilson landed a penalty just before the break but it was to be the last points for the Highlanders.

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