DURBAN – The Sharks have blown the Currie Cup title race wide open after a Kings Park cliffhanger that was as dramatic as any of the great games this wonderful competition has seen over the decades.
After 83 minutes of breath-taking entertainment, including well-taken tries, controversial yellow cards, great penalty kicking by Morne Steyn and Curwin Bosch, frantic defence, irresistible lineout mauling by the Bulls and gutsy scrumming by the Sharks, it came down to veteran Steyn kicking a penalty to salvage his team a draw.
On a ground where Steyn enjoyed his finest moments as a rugby player — scoring all 31 points in the Springboks’ win over the All Blacks in 2009, and kicking the winning conversion in the 2007 Super 12 final — almost unbelievably … he missed!
And I reckon it serves the Bulls right, for attempting to settle for the draw — had they kicked to the corner there would have been a good chance of them scoring off the back of a lineout maul that had worked so well for them all game,
Instead, the Sharks pocketed four invaluable log points that cuts the Bulls’ lead over them at the top of the table to four points, with the Sharks having a game in hand on the leaders.
Midway through the second half, the Bulls appeared to be flexing their muscles and cruising towards yet another win, having scored 13 unanswered points to go 22-17 ahead, but they hadn’t quite extinguished the fire in the Sharks’ bellies and the men in black kept fighting, even when the Bulls went 29-20 clear with 15 minutes to go, and the momentum firmly with them.
#OurSharks celebrating their fin'omenal tries against the Vodacom Bulls 🦈#WaveFromHome #OurSharksForever #SHAvBUL pic.twitter.com/BQCfVEyjaG
— The Sharks (@TheSharksZA) December 12, 2020
But one thing we know about the Sharks under Sean Everitt is that they do not give up, and ringing in the players’ ears in that dramatic final quarter would have been the theme of their preparations last week — deliver an 80-minute performance for the first time since lockdown.
They indeed played to the death and late tries by Kerron van Vuuren — yet another maul try for the powerfully-built hooker — and an absolute peach for winger Yaw Penxe – who benefitted from a brilliant cross-kick by Bosch — saw the Bulls halted in their stride and then shoved onto the back foot.
The Bulls, though, showed their class by fighting back to get themselves into a position to at least draw the game, probably win it if they had backed themselves and gone for the corner and not the posts.
It was a crucial game for the Sharks on a number of levels given that the Bulls had smashed them twice at Loftus this season. A loss for the Sharks in Durban would have given the Bulls an unassailable lead at the top of the table and also shattered the Sharks’ self-belief.
But this seventh consecutive home win for the Sharks this year (they are undefeated at Kings Park) will give the Sharks the belief that the form that took them to the top of the Super Rugby log in March is within touch.
Scorers
Sharks: Tries: Lukhanyo Am, Kerron van Vuuren, Yaw Penxe. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (1). Penalties: Bosch (5)
Bulls: Tries: Marco van Staden, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2). Penalties: Steyn (5)
IOL Sport