Sharks feast on Bulls' carcass

The Sharks, showing a greater desire, outclassed a pitiful  Blue Bulls team 26-15 in their Currie Cup showdown at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Despite their scrum dominance and ample opportunities, the Bulls - giving the appearance of a rotting carcass - failed to score a try.

The Sharks, in stark contrast, not only wanted the win more desperately, but also played with greater energy and creativeness to score two five-pointers.

It was a valuable four points that saw the Durban-based outfit move into third place on the standings - behind the pace-setting Western Province and second-placed Golden Lions.

The result effectively diminished the Bulls' chances of reaching the play-offs, as they occupy sixth place on the Currie Cup log with three weeks left before the semifinals.

While the Sharks must get credit for their own game, the final outcome also had a lot to do with the host of unforced by the Bulls.

Apart from their dominance in the scrums, which resulted in a number of penalties, the Bulls struggled to turn their opportunities into points.

The Bulls' line-out was chronically dysfunctional, with the hookers not quite finding the jumpers.

With this crucial attacking platform neutralised the Sharks further made it difficult at the breakdowns.

The Blue Bulls opened the scores short of 10 minutes with flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter succeeding with a penalty, before adding a second only a minute later for a six-point lead.

The Sharks, however, soon levelled the scores when fullback SP Marais saw both his long-range efforts from more than 50 metres out go over the crossbar.

In the second quarter the Bulls returned their six-point lead thanks to two Potgieter penalties.

Sharks pivot Lionel Cronje had two attempts of his own, but he first pulled his kick to the left before his second shaved the right-hand upright.

However, Cronje did not have to dwell too long on his failed shots at goal as Sharks flyer Lwazi Mvovo intercepted a Burger Odendaal pass to dart down the line to score, with the flyhalf converting for a one-point lead going into the break.

Ten minutes into the second half the Sharks struck another debilitating blow when wing Sibusiso Sithole fielded a superb cross-kick by Cronje to score in the right-hand corner, with the latter converting.

Six minutes later Cronje extended the lead through a penalty conversion to hand his side an 11-point lead with little over 20 minutes left on the clock.

While the Bulls brought hooker Bongi Mbonambi for Callie Visagie and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg for lock Paul Willemse, it did little to remedy their line-out woes.

The Bulls made a number of advances into the Sharks half, but the visitors were strong on defence and turned the ball over at the rucks to take the wind out of the hosts' sails.

With 13 minutes left in the encounter Potgieter narrowed the gap with a penalty conversion, but their fight-back attempt proved to be to no avail.

Man of the match: Grant Hattingh worked hard and Jacques du Plessis was active. Sharks captain Lubabalo Mtembu lead by example up front, while wings Sibusiso Sithole and Lwazi Mvovo also troubled the Bulls' often ragged defensive lines. However, our award goes to Sharks flyhalf Lionel Cronje, for the manner in which he controlled the game in the second half. Yes, he had a few goal-kicked wobbles, but his game-management is what kept the Bulls on the backfoot.

Scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:

Pens: Potgieter 5

For the Sharks:

Tries: Mvovo, Sithole

Cons: Cronjé 2

Pens: Cronjé 2, Marais 2

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jesse Kriel.

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu (captain), 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 JC Astle, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Dale Chadwick.

Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Johan Meyer, 19 Khaya Majola, 20 Hanco Venter, 21 Tim Swiel, 22 Tonderai Chavhanga.

Referee: Quinton Immelman

Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Cobus Wessels

TMO: Johan Greeff