Bulls outmuscle Sharks in the Tank
The Bulls outmuscle the Sharks in a tense Super Rugby encounter in Durban on Saturday, winning 17-10.
With the teams having scored one try each, it was the boot of Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard that proved the difference.
His four penalties trumped the one penalty and one conversion of Fred Zeilinga.
It also gave the Bulls a double over the Sharks this season – following their high-scoring 43-35 first round win in Pretoria.
This encounter was a more traditional South African derby – an arm-wrestle of brutal proportions.
The Bulls also reclaimed their place at the top of the South African conference.
The leading points scorer this season, Pollard, took his tally to 120 and right wing Francois Hougaard scored a breathtaking try.
The Bulls led 8-3 at half-time, but fell two points behind early in the second half before Pollard slotted three penalties to secure a sixth victory from nine games.
The New Zealand Hurricanes – despite their loss to the Waratahs earlier – top the standings with 33 points, the Bulls have 28 and Australia's Brumbies are on 26 after 10 rounds.
Sharks, tipped by many pundits to be the strongest South African contenders before the competition started two months ago, lie ninth 12 points behind the leaders.
The match was an eye-sore with battering-ram rugby the order of the day.
It was raw, highly physical and error-strewn with much poor handling and many turnovers.
When there was tactical kicking, it was often misplaced, and Sharks supporters left the ground disillusioned after a poor game and a third straight loss for the Durban team.
Sharks suffered an early blow when fullback Odwa Ndungane retired injured with SP Marais replacing the veteran.
Although camped in opposition territory for the first quarter of the game and dominating possession, the Bulls fell behind on 18 minutes to a Zeilinga penalty.
Zeilinga missed another shot at goal before Springboks 2015 World Cup contender Pollard restored parity on the half-hour with his first penalty.
The highlight of the game came on 36 minutes as Hougaard scored after a brilliant exchange of passes with scrumhalf Rudy Paige close to the right touchline.
Pollard watched his difficult conversion rebound off the far post and the Pretoria outfit went into the break with an unflattering five-point lead.
A rare spell in Bulls' half of the pitch brought early second-half reward for the hosts as Coetzee claimed his fifth try of the season after a break by scrumhalf Cobus Reinach.
Zeilinga converted and Sharks had a two-point advantage that lasted just four minutes before a Pollard penalty put the visitors ahead again.
Pollard and Zeilinga fluffed penalty attempts and the impressive Paige retired hurt as the arm-wrestle rugby continued.
A further two successful penalty kicks by Pollard in between a change of halfbacks by the Sharks brought a dour affair to a close.
Sharks have a bye next weekend, while the Bulls face another tough South African derby away to sixth-place Stormers in Cape Town.
Man of the match: Marcell Coetzee was the Sharks' most effective player by some distance. Waylon Murray had a few promising moments and Tendai Mtawarira was quick to rush in to protect his players in any off-the-ball incidents. Burger Odendaal again had an outstanding game, while Francois Hougaard showed he is a better wing than scrumhalf. Dean Greyling, Adriaan Strauss, Grant Hattingh and Jacques du Plessis all made valuable contributions. However, our award goes to Bulls captain Pierre Spies who again put his hand up for Springbok selection with a performance that was a classic mix of brute force in the tight exchanges and a few sublime touches.
The scorers:
For the Sharks:
Try: Coetzee
Con: Zeilinga
Pen: Zeilinga
For the Bulls:
Try: Hougaard
Pens: Pollard 4
Teams:
Sharks: 15 Odwa Ndungane, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Etienne Oosthuizen, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 SP Marais.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Pieter Labuschagne, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Archie Sehlako
TMO: Marius Jonker
