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Toothless Sharks hammered by the Bulls in latest Currie Cup final
By Sam Smith
The Bulls claimed their second consecutive Currie Cup trophy with an impressive 44-10 win over the Sharks on Saturday. Jake White's team delivered a masterclass in Pretoria, setting a points difference record in the competition that is more than a century old.
The defending champions scored six tries and even the most hardened Sharks fan will have to admit that they witnessed a masterclass by the Pretoria outfit. They led 19-3 at the break with three sublime tries in the bag and an even better second half followed for the hosts.
Sharks lost influential midfielder Marius Louw in the warm-up due to ill-health and the first involvement of his replacement Jeremy Ward wasn't great. With the Bulls attacking from a third-minute lineout, Ward misread the dummy runners and his direct opponent, Harold Vorster, was left with a gap as big as a house to race away and score.
Sleight of hand by Vorster then created the next try from another lineout stemming from a penalty conceded by the Sharks. Vorster’s pass found Lionel Mapoe and he cut through the Ward/Werner Kok midfield.
The Sharks eventually hit back with a 30th-minute penalty from Curwin Bosch, but a tap and charge saw Marcell Coetzee crash over next to the uprights to ensure the Bulls had a 16-point interval lead.
This was soon extended in the second half, Chris Smith's penalty followed by lock Janko Swanepoel's try which stretched the margin to 29-3 with 50 minutes played. Scrum-half Zak Burger then added try No5 with Coetzee claiming the sixth soon after.
While the Sharks had a try from Thomas du Toit, Cornal Hendricks wrapped up the hammering to leave the Bulls heading to Ireland to face Leinster on September 25 for the start of the United Rugby Championship as the back-to-back Currie Cup champions.
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Latest Comments
Hard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
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