Willie le Roux scored a late intercept try to hand the Cheetahs a 12-6 Super Rugby win over South African rivals the Sharks on Saturday.

In a scrappy affair at Kings Park in Durban, the Sharks were still in the match at 7-6 down late on before Le Roux cut off Pieter-Steph du Toit's pass and scored.

The Cheetahs opened the scoring after a spate of errors from the hosts handed them the only try of the first half.

The Sharks were on the attack only to knock the ball on, allowing Heinrich Brussow to trap possession and kick the ball down field.

Sharks centre Paul Jordaan failed to recover the loose ball, allowing Raymond Rhule to kick forward and cross over the line, with Burton Francis slotting home the conversion.

The visitors saw their lead cut to four points at half-time when Sharks first-five Pat Lambie kicked the Sharks' opening points from a penalty, before repeating the dosage with 15 minutes remaining to make it 7-6.

But just as the Sharks were pressing for the winning score, another error allowed Le Roux to seize possession and seal the victory with his side's second try of the match.