Cape Town — Wing Sibongile Novuka grabbed a hat-trick of tries as the Blue Bulls matched their flair on attack with grit in defence to claim a 24-20 Currie Cup bonus-point victory over the Sharks at Kings Park in Durban on Friday.
Novuka scored his third try around the hour mark to give the Pretoria side the necessary breathing space in the final quarter as the Bulls withstood a late onslaught from the home side to secure a much-needed win.
Sharks coach Joey Mongalo would have been pleased with the opening sequences as the hosts put together multi-phase attacks, but they were unable to breach a resolute Bulls defence.
A swirling wind made life difficult for Bulls hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels in the first half as some of his lineout throw-ins went off course, but the visitors soon found their rhythm with ball-in-hand by taking it up the middle.
Sharks flyhalf Fred Zeilinga opened the scoring with a penalty, but it was the Bulls who landed the first touchdown in the 15th minute. Morné Steyn’s accurate up-and-under was not won in the air, and flank Cameron Hanekom kicked ahead and delivered a superb offload for Novuka to cross the line.
The Sharks varied their play well, with young scrumhalf Bradley Davids providing a slick service from the base and well-timed box-kicks, while the likes of centres Murray Koster and Josh Jonas, lock Corné Rahl and flank Tinotenda Mavesere made some strong runs too.
But the Sharks just lacked that touch of aggression that the Bulls possessed with their big men, and the visitors struck in the 33rd minute via hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who burst away from a lineout drive to go all the way.
Mavesere was unlucky to miss out on a five-pointer himself when he appeared to lose the ball as he went over, with TMO Egon Seconds unable to overturn referee AJ Jacobs’ on-field call as the TV evidence was not clear and obvious.
The Sharks then suffered a further blow as No 8 James Venter was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on Bulls No 12 Chris Barend Smit, and they conceded a try almost immediately as Novuka grabbed his second following a series of outstanding offloads by prop Simphiwe Matanzima, lock Janko Swanepoel and Man-of-the-Match Wessels, before fullback Franco Knoetze put Novuka over.
It was a long road back at 19-3 down for the Sharks at halftime, but they never gave up the fight.
#SHAvBUL BIG second half coming up!
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 14, 2023
💙![CDATA[]]>🐃 #TrueToTheBlue #BullsHeard @Vodacom #CurrieCup pic.twitter.com/dMJ2McII9M
They seemed to carry with greater purpose in the second half and were rewarded when right wing Phikolomzi Sobahle flew over from an attacking scrum.
Zeilinga’s penalty in the 54th minute reduced the deficit to 19-13 and set up an exciting final quarter.
But it was that man Novuka who pounced once more, diving over for his third try following a couple of strong Bulls carries off a scrum to make it 24-13.
Jake White’s team continued to push the envelope on attack with a couple of wonderful passages of play, but they missed out on further points due to a knock-on, penalty or the last pass not going to hand.
It nearly came back to haunt the Bulls as replacement back Zee Mkhabela scored the second Sharks try with 12 minutes to go, and Lionel Cronjé landed the angled conversion to make it 24-20.
Both teams had a few more scoring chances in the closing stages, but the Bulls held on for a welcome victory.
The Vodacom Bulls defence holds on to hand them a 24-20 win over the Cell C Sharks in the #CurrieCup 🤏 pic.twitter.com/mlGdJrKUNS
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 14, 2023
Points-Scorers
Sharks 20 – Tries: Phikolomzi Sobahle, Zee Mkhabela. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (1), Lionel Cronjé (1). Penalties: Zeilinga (2).
Blue Bulls 24 – Tries: Sibongile Novuka (3), Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversions: Morné Steyn (2).
IOL Sport