Sharks edge Blue Bulls in thriller

The Sharks pulled a nail-biting encounter from the fire to beat the Blue Bulls 34-25 in Durban on Saturday to move to the top of the Currie Cup table.

The Sharks pulled a nail-biting encounter from the fire to beat the Blue Bulls 34-25 in Durban on Saturday to move to the top of the Currie Cup table.

The Blue Bulls will rue some wayward place-kicking, but could well have cost them the game. The Sharks came back strongly after being on the ropes as the Blue Bulls backs gave their team a clear lead with some super tries.

By contrast, Ruan Pienaar was successful with six of his seven kicks to give the home team the edge.

It was an all-round fascinating encounter between two evenly matched sides. With the Cheetahs having lost earlier in the day, both side were patently aware that the winners would be sure beats for a home semi-final.

Lying first and second on the Currie Cup table before the game, both sides picked up a bonus point for scoring four tries in a humdinger that will leave the ABSA stadium crowd voice-less on Sunday.

Blue Bulls opened the scoring in clinical fashion inside the first ten minutes. Wynand Olivier continued his outstanding season, setting up a try for his midfield partner Marius Delport.

It was textbook stuff. Victor Matfield won the line-out and the ball was sent to Olivier at pace. The Springbok centre left another Bok, Frans Steyn, a little rosy cheeked as the blue-clad blond number twelve sailed through the Sharks defence before off-loading to Delport, who finished untouched under the posts.

Morné Steyn added the extra two and the visitors were off to a flyer.

It took another ten minutes for the Sharks to reply. After having had the lion's share of possession, but no points to show for it, veteran full-back Stefan Terblanche showed his class, drawing two defenders to put wing Odwa Ndungane away to score in the corner.

Ruan Pienaar slotted a fantastic conversion from the touchline and the scores were all square at 7-all after the first quarter.

It took another ten minutes for the Sharks to edge ahead as Pienaar kicked a penalty to compound the Bulls' disappointment after Pierre Spies had come desperately close to scoring a brilliant solo try a few minutes earlier. The visitors were holding the breaths soon afterwards as Frans Steyn attempted a 58m penalty, but pushed his effort slightly wide leaving the score at 10-7.

And that's how the score stayed in the first half, thanks to a try-saving tackle from Bryan Habana on Odwa Ndungane on the stroke of half-time after Terblanche had made another electrifying run.

Almost immediately after the break Olivier and Ndungane opened up the Sharks defence again and Wikus van Heerden pushed his way over, but was held up. From the five-metre scrum, the Bulls spread to wide only to see Tiger Mangweni spill the final pass.

Despite the relentless pressure from the Bulls, the Sharks were first to score in the second half as JP Pietersen struck gold with his first touch of the ball. Fred Michalak intercepted a pass from Morné Steyn and Pietersen, on for the concussed Bradley Barritt, used his pace and some clever inside-outside stepping to find the corner.

Pienaar slotted another outstanding conversion and the Sharks led by ten.

The pace of the game was increasing and it took the Bulls less than five minutes to pull a try back. Once again Olivier broke the Sharks line, but was pulled down just short of the end-zone. Matfield however was on hand to pick-up, dive and score. Morné Steyn missed the conversion, his second miss in five minutes after fluffing a penalty.

With the tension mounting, Olivier was on hand again to score for the visitors and level the scores. Akona Ndungane put in a nicely weighted chip from the sideline, Olivier snatched it before it could bounce and dove over. Morné Steyn missed another and 17-all it remained.

Morné Steyn finally did final success from the kicking tee to move the Bulls ahead from a penalty, before that man Olivier scored his second.

Matfield Рof all people Рput in a cross-field kick to get the ball rolling. In the aftermath Ndungane chipped ahead (again) and Olivier pounced (again) before Morn̩ Steyn missed (again).

With a solid eight-point lead and a bonus point in the bag, the Bulls' tactics left something to be desired as the continued to play rather risky, though entertaining rugby.

The last twenty minutes were absolute mayhem. Amongst the carnage, Bismarck du Plessis bashed it forward, giving Fred Michalak the chance to work his magic, sucking in the defenders to allow Terblanche to score. Pienaar was on target with the conversion and at 24-25, the crowd were on the edges of their seats.

Pienaar kicked another penalty to put the home side in front and the Blue Bulls never saw the lead again as the wheels slowly came off their wagon.

Sharks number eight Keegan Daniel sealed the deal in the dying minutes with a try any wing would have been proud of. The speedy loose forward collected his own chip ahead to charge down the touchline and send the Sharks faithful into seventh heaven.

The result in Bloemfontein earlier in the day the Sharks and the Blue Bulls remain first and second, but have swapped places.

The scorers:

For the Sharks:
Tries: A.Ndungane, Pietersen, Terblanche, Daniel
Cons: Pienaar 4
Pens: Pienaar 2

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Delport, Matfield, Olivier 2
Con: M Steyn
Pen: M Steyn

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 Waylon Murray, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Alistair Hargreaves, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Albert van den Berg, 20 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 JP Pietersen.

Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gurthrö Steenkamp.

Referee: Mark Lawrence
Touch judges: Theuns Jonker, Reuben Rossouw
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen
Assessor: Theuns Naudé