Currie Cup semifinal: Sharks beat Bulls after unbelievable draw

The Sharks sealed a scarcely believable Currie Cup semifinal win over the Bulls after the two teams battled out an incredible 40-all draw at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

With the team’s level at 33-all after fulltime, the game went to extra time which meant that two 10-minute halves would be needed to separate the teams.

However Currie Cup permutations stated that if the sides were still level after extra time the team who scored the most tries in the match would triumph, and in the end that was the visitors who outscored the hosts six tries to four.

The Sharks will now travel to Johannesburg to face the Lions, who beat the Cheetahs 43-34 in their semi, in the Currie Cup final at Ellis Park next weekend.

Action packed

In the match it was an action packed first half that ended slightly in favour of the hosts, with the Bulls taking a 23-19 lead into the break.

They took an early lead through the boot of flyhalf Johan Goosen who knocked over a penalty, but straight from the kick-off Sharks lock Emile van Heerden charged down the clearance attempt and picked up to score, with flyhalf Siya Masuku’s extras putting them into a 7-3 lead.

But the Bulls were soon back in front in the 11^th minute as scrumhalf Keagan Johannes sniped over for a converted score, followed by Goosen’s second penalty in the 19^th minute.

A neat lineout move saw eighthman Cameron Hanekom in at the corner for a converted try in the 21^st minute, giving them a solid 20-7 lead.

The Sharks however fought back over the rest of the half, as scrumhalf Bradley Davids dived over and flank James Venter scored a wonderful converted solo try as they fought back to within one point, before Goosen’s third penalty on the halftime hooter gave the Bulls a bit of breathing room.

The second half kicked off with the Bulls extending their lead to 30-19 through a converted try to wing Stravino Davids.

But the Sharks bounced back as wing Ethan Hooker and inside centre Andre Esterhuizen powered over for tries in the 54^th and 62^nd minutes, both converted by Masuku to put them ahead 33-30.

Sharks implosion

The visitors then seemed to implode as outside centre Francois Venter received a 65^th minute red card for a shoulder to the head tackle, replacement prop Dan Bleuler was yellow carded in the 69^th minute for continuous scrum penalties and fullback Jordan Hendrikse was yellowed in the 75^th for cynical play on defence.

Despite the multiple man advantage in the closing moments, the Sharks heroically kept the Bulls out, leading to Goosen slotting a 78^th minute penalty to level the scores, and then missing a long range shot on the fulltime hooter for the win.

Extra time was a frantic affair, with both teams knowing what was needed, and it was the Bulls who struck in the first half as Jacobs burst through for his second try of the game, as they took a 40-33 lead.

But the Sharks again would not go away and Bok prop Trevor Nyakane was the hero, throwing a dummy and powering over to score, with replacement flyhalf Lionel Cronje slotting the conversion to bring them back level.

With time up on the clock the Bulls had one final chance to win the game, from a long range penalty on the touchline, but fullback Boeta Chamberlain watched in horror as his attempt dropped short, allowing the Sharks to clear for the win.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Keagan Johannes, Cameron Hanekom, Stravino Jacobs (2); Conversions – Johan Goosen (2), Boeta Chamberlain; Penalties – Goosen (4)

Sharks: Tries – Emile van Heerden, Bradley Davids, James Venter, Ethan Hooker, Andre Esterhuizen, Trevor Nyakane; Conversions – Siya Masuku (4), Lionel Cronje