Sharks go top after beating Bulls

The Sharks moved to the top of the Currie Cup standings, for at least 24 hours, when they beat the Blue Bulls 37-28 in their Round Five match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night. The Sharks outscored the home team by five tries to three, to leave the Bulls empty handed at their home ground.

Victorious Sharks

The Bulls dropped down to fourth place in the standings after a are second successive home defeat - following their loss to Western Province two weeks ago.

At the end of this thrilling match the outstanding captain of the team which won and deserved to do so, AJ Venter, said: "We knew it was going to be tough and we said: 'Let's fight fire with fire', and that's what we did. We made the small yards and in the end the small yards count."

Count they certainly did as the young, enthusiastic, determined Natal Sharks beat the Blue Bulls where they are supposed to be strongest - up front, and the unimaginative Blue Bulls had little by way of answer, other than the brilliant boot of Morné Steyn.

The Sharks mauled when ever they could and not only trundled the Blue Bulls down field metre by metre but also got themselves penalties in the process, some five maul infringements alone.

Penalties conceded lashed the Blue Bulls into some sort of surly submission. At half-time the penalty count was 7-all. In the second half it was 9-2. The Blue Bulls conceded nine penalties in the half. Had Ruan Pienaar been a half-way good kicker the Sharks would have been out of sight long before the try that gave them the lead with five minutes to play. He missed three penalty kicks at goal and two conversions. The second missed conversion was an easy one and the miss could have been crucial for at that stage the score was 30-28 and one goaled kick could have beaten them.

The penalty count could have been higher, had the referee not been keen to play advantage and had he not been kind to the two hookers the Blue Bulls used. At one stage, in less than half a minute the referee told Kobus van der Walt to do the right thing no fewer than six times, and the last two penalties the Pretorians conceded were against replacement hooker Adriaan Strauss.

Indicative of the Sharks' ebullient approach happened after the siren had sounded. They were then 37-28 ahead, but the Bulls could still have got two log points with a try - one for a fourth try and one for losing by fewer than eight points. The siren had well and truly sounded, when Steyn kicked a crosskick far to his right. The Blue Bulls caught the ball but the Sharks' defence came swarming and four metres from their line they won a turn-over. Kick the ball out and the game was done. They had five points and the Blue Bulls had none.

But, no. The Sharks started running and running with endearing madness. The Blue Bulls got it back and played. The Sharks got it back and still they ran till Craig Burden of the Gert Muller mien kicked - to attack - and the ball did a legbreak and went into touch far away from the Sharks' line.

It was the second successive defeat for the Blue Bulls in Pretoria and the second one they deserved to suffer - this one even more so than the one against Western Province, and yet they started so well.

There was a banner which read VANAAND EET ONS HAAI PIE (Tonight we eat Shark pie). It looked as if it was going to happen as Steyn goaled a penalty against Warren Brits and in no time the Blue Bulls were battering again at the Shark's ramparts. From a tap penalty Frikkie Welsh was over but the television match official, who had a busy night, advised a five-metre scrum. The Blue Bulls were still attacking and a long pass from Welsh, who was playing left wing, found John Mametsa and over the right wing went in the corner. This time the TMO advised a try.

Steyn's conversion was brilliant, rising into the night sky exactly bisecting the white uprights. 10-0 after eight minutes.

The Sharks had a sharp attack, making a penalty against Hottie Louw for collapsing a maul into a six-metre line-out which they mauled. Bismarck du Plessis actually got the ball to the line but he moved his grounded body forward to get there and was penalised.

Back the Blue Bulls came and a late charge by Venter produced another three-point penalty. 13-0.

Pienaar, who had missed an easy one goaled when Welsh, the captain whose example of discipline is poor, tackled a man without the ball. 13-3 but soon it was 16-3  when Venter was penalised for an air tackle after Welsh had set the Blue Bulls rumbling with a thumping tackle on Dusty Noble.

After that apart from sporadic efforts the game belonged to Natal who at one stage had a territorial advantage of 75%. 75 percent against the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld!

The Sharks attacked left and right and vice versa with pick-'n-go and a tapped penalty, till a studied hesitation by teenager Brad Barritt and a great pass sent Gcobani Bobo brushing past defenders for a try. 16-8 after 24 minutes.

They came back again to turn a penalty into a five-metre line-out and the line-out into a maul. They battered and bashed at the stern defence till Ruan Pienaar picked up, skipped, dummied and flicked past Pedrie Wannenburg for a try at the posts, which he converted.

That put the Sharks down by just one point, 16-15, at half-time but there was no doubt that they were on top.

They were right on top as the second half got under way. From the kick-off Jacques Botes went on a long run and later Odwa Ndungane, who was brave, skilled and adventurous at fullback, counterattacked. But the try came from suicidal ill-discipline by the Blue Bulls. A penalty became a six-metre line-out. The maul produced a penalty, which the Sharks tapped. That produced another penalty for not being back 10 metres. That produced another tap and there was Burden bouncing off Mametsa and Wannenburg to plunge over for a try.  (If you remember the great Gert Muller, have a look at Burden and compare.) Pienaar converted and the Sharks led 22-16.

The Blue Bulls then attacked down in the left-hand corner. The Sharks defended with the courage of Horatio on that bridge in ancient Rome and then a lapse in concentration allowed Neil Powell, just on for Heinie Adams, to dive over in the left-hand corner. Astonishingly Steyn missed the conversion.

When welsh was penalised for a deliberate knock-down, Pienaar made it 25-21.

At this stage the Sharks experience d a bit of a dip and the boot replaced enterprise. Then the Blue Bulls produced their one great move of the match - a isle of normalcy in their stodgy sea. They went left. Stefan Basson of the dancing feet came into the line and Frikkie Welsh had an overlap. At the line, the Blue Bulls battered and battered till replacement lock Adriaan Fondse got the ball over. The industrious TMO stated that he had no reason why a try could not be awarded. It was awarded and Steyn converted. 28-25 to the Blue Bulls with 11 minutes to play.

Somehow all the signs still pointed to a Natal victory, but the manner of its coming had some self-created luck.

Two penalties against the Blue Bulls gave the Sharks a five-metre line-out, but the Blue Bulls were stern in defence and won a scrum when their pressure forced a knock-on by Pienaar - a five metre scrum.

The determined Sharks produced the scrum of the match. This enabled replacement Keegan Daniels to put pressure on Powell. This forced Powell to send a horrible, rolling pass back to Steyn just inside his dead-ball line. This enabled Grant Rees and Pienaar to put pressure on Steyn. Steyn knocked the ball forward and backed away. Either Rees or Pienaar could have scored and perhaps both of them did but Rees made the better effort.

Then Pienaar missed the easy conversion.

There were five minutes to play. If there had been real heart in the big Blue Bull bodies they would have come charging back now. Instead it was the Sharks who attacked, going down the left in quick bursts till they went right. Barritt had a nifty run and set the ball for Daniel who sped on a perfect angle over under the posts. Pienaar converted, and that was it, just two minutes left to play.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Mametsa, Powell, Van Schouwenburg
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 3

For the Sharks:
Tries: Bobo, Pienaar, Burden, Rees, Daniel
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pens: Pienaar 2

Teams:

Vodacom Blue Bulls: 15 Stefan Basson, 14 John Mametsa, 13 JP Nel, 12 Dries Scholtz, 11 Frikkie Welsh (captain), 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Tim Dlulane, 6 Warren Brosnihan, 5 Francois van Schouwenburg, 4 Hottie Louw, 3 Rayno Gerber, 2 Kobus van der Walt, 1 Wessel Roux.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Hilton Lobberts, 20 Neil Powell, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Johan Roets

Sharks: 15 Odwa Ndungane, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Grant Rees, 11 Craig Burden, 10 Bradley Barritt, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 AJ Venter (captain), 7 Jacques Botes, 6 Warren Britz, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Wouter Moore, 3 Danie Saayman, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Kees Lensing.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Brendon Botha, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Scott Mathie, 21 Andrew Binikos, 22 Mzwandile Stick.

Referee: JC Fortuin (Western Province)
Touch judges: Roderick Barry (Western Province), Jaco Peyper (Free State)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (Boland)
Assessor: Jacques Hugo (Eastern Province)