If ever there was any doubt that the Currie Cup can still dish up true drama, that notion was dispelled entirely on Saturday night as the Sharks XV advanced to the final despite a 40-40 draw with the Blue Bulls in a thrilling semi-final at Loftus Versfeld.
The Durban outfit advanced to a title decider against the Golden Lions – who beat the Cheetahs 43-34 earlier on Saturday – at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next Saturday (4pm start) by virtue of scoring six tries to the four of the Bulls following 100 minutes of hi-octane action in Pretoria.
Not even 20 minutes of extra time could separate the two sides, after Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen missed a penalty from the halfway line on the hooter at the end of the regulation 80 minutes.
In the end, it was veteran Sharks prop Trevor Nyakane who was the hero for the visitors when he rumbled over in the second-last minute of extra time, with another experienced campaigner in flyhalf Lionel Cronjé slotted the conversion to level the scores.
It was just reward for a tenacious Sharks side that withstood intense pressure in the last 10 minutes of normal time after being reduced to 12 men, due to a red card to centre Francois Venter for a dangerous tackle, and yellow cards to prop Dian Bleuler and fullback Jordan Hendrikse.
The Bulls had several opportunities to finish off their opponents in the closing stages, but somehow found ways to blow those chances. They opted for a series of scrums inside the Sharks 22 from penalties, but poor execution and terrific scramble defence by the Durbanites kept them at bay.
A few missed penalty kicks into touch by Goosen also didn’t help matters, while the Bulls lineout also fell to pieces at crucial times in the second half.
It looked like the hosts were going to run away with the victory in the first half as they roared into a 20-7 lead following tries by scrumhalf Keagan Johannes and outstanding No 8 Cameron Hanekom.
But a couple of unforced errors by the Bulls kept the Sharks in the hunt, and scrumhalf Bradley Davids and flank James Venter – who was the Player of the Match – dotted down to reduce the deficit to a point at 20-19.
Bulls powerhouse wing Stravino Jacobs burst through a few tackles to score his first try early in the second to put his team into a 30-19 lead, but the Sharks never gave up, and were rewarded handsomely for their fighting spirit.
A yellow card to Bulls No 6 Marcell Coetzee – for making head contact with Venter in a tackle – seemed to turn the tide in the Sharks’ favour.
Left wing Ethan Hooker rounded off after a dominant passage of play, and Springbok centre André Esterhuizen completed an 11-phase attack to put the visitors into a 33-30 lead with 18 minutes to go.
The drama wasn’t over, though, as Francois Venter received his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on Jacobs in the 66th minute, and then Bleuler and Hendrikse got their yellows.
But the Bulls were unable to land the knockout punch as they wasted a number of lineouts and scrums in the Sharks half, and they had to ask Goosen to land a 78th-minute three-pointer to level the scores at 33-33.
Goosen then had a shot from the halfway line that was short, which resulted in 20 minutes of extra time.
It was that man Jacobs who stepped inside and cut through the Sharks defence to score in the 90th minute and put the Bulls 40-33 up.
But with the new 20-minute yellow card law, Francois Venter was replaced by Litelihle Bester, and suddenly the Sharks had their full complement of 15 players.
They seemed to make easy inroads through the Bulls defence, and the breakthrough eventually came when Bok front-rower Nyakane burst through Goosen – who continued to play despite sustaining a broken nose – and Cronjé slotted the conversion to make it 40-40.
From the resultant kickoff, Sharks lock Gerbrandt Grobler took out Bulls wing Katlego Letebele in the air, but Bulls fullback Boeta Chamberlain’s angled kick at the posts from around the 10m line was well short.
Points-Scorers
Blue Bulls 40 – Tries: Keagan Johannes, Cameron Hanekom, Stravino Jacobs (2). Conversions: Johan Goosen (3), Boeta Chamberlain (1). Penalties: Goosen (4).
Sharks XV 40 – Tries: Emile van Heerden, Bradley Davids, James Venter, Ethan Hooker, André Esterhuizen, Trevor Nyakane. Conversions: Siya Masuku (4), Lionel Cronjé (1).