CURRIE CUP

News | History | Table | Fixtures & Results

The Sharks drown at Loftus

Saturday 05th July 2008

You're going...nowhere: The Blue Bulls smothered the life out of the Sharks

The Blue Bulls scored a 35-14 bonus point win over the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday to become joint leaders of the Currie Cup.

The home side outscored their visitors four tries to one as the Sharks' unbeaten record came to an end. The Blue Bulls were clearly the better side on the day and were rewarded for some enterprising running with a convincing win.

A cracking encounter was almost ruined by the referee constantly consulting the TMO. You can't blame the man with the whistle, JC Fortuin, who was sticking to the laws, but the endless waiting for all kinds of decisions given to the TMO under the new experimental laws certainly broke up the rhythm of the game - so long and often were the stoppages that the second half lasted more than 60 minutes!

Rare were the occasions in the Super 14 when the Bulls finished a game without a yellow card, and the trend has continued in the Currie Cup. After Hilton Lobberts' sin binning last week, Derick Ku�n was seeing yellow after just 43 seconds for some unsavoury use of his boot in a ruck.

But the home side weren't perturbed by playing with fourteen men, on the contrary they were good value for their 5-0 lead when full-back Tiger Mangweni rounded of a superb team effort to score the games first try after seven minutes. The Blue Bulls recycled the ball with super-efficiency for 50 metres before Springbok centre Wynand Olivier cut through the Sharks defensive line before passing to Mangweni.

Sharks wing Monty Dumond pulled three points back by slotting a penalty after a quarter of an hour only to see Morn� Steyn do the same a minute later.

Olivier was in the mix once more a few minutes later when he scored the Blue Bulls second try. Steyn kicked a beautifully weighted grubber through the Sharks rush defence and the blond centre pounced to increase the home side's lead.

Dumond added three more for the Sharks only to see Mangweni touch down again after 24 minutes. A barnstorming run from Deon Stegmann had the Sharks going backwards when the Blue Bulls sent it wide. Once again Olivier provided the crucial pass to put his full-back into space. Steyn added the extras to make the score 22-6.

Dumond added his third penalty on the stroke of half time and the teams swapped ends with the Blue Bulls deservedly leading 22-9.

Steyn got the ball rolling again with another penalty early the second half. Dumond had an opportunity to reply in kind with an attempt from 50m out but he hit the post for the second time and the score remained 25 -9.

The TMO had another difficult decision to make when Stefan Terblanche and John Mametsa grabbed the ball out of the air and crashed over the Sharks try line with both players hanging on. The home side were denied the try but were calling on the man upstairs again when Danie Rossouw was stopped inches short.

The Blue Bulls continued to lay siege to the Sharks line and when Rossouw stretched his arm over the line, the Loftus faithful thought the bonus point was in hand. Not so said TMO Michael Cupido, who reckoned the blue clad lock had made two movements. The response from the crowd, who were watching the same images on the stadium's big screen, must have made Cupido a little uneasy.

Steyn added another penalty before the Sharks launched a late comeback. With ten minutes to play Albert van den Berg was at the bottom of a pile of bodies as the Sharks mauled their way to a try. Dumond missed the conversion but the Sharks has a new lease on life at 28-14.

If the TMO thought his job was done he was wrong as he was once again called upon to decide wether Blue Bulls wing John Mametsa grounded the ball for that elusive bonus point try. Again the home side were denied and were taken back 25 metres to receive a penalty for an earlier line-out infringement, thanks again to the television official.

Replacement scrum-half Francois Hougaard eventually did get the fourth try the Pretoria fans were calling for as the TMO (yes, him again) gave the SA U20 player's effort the green light, two minutes from time.

The Scorers

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Mangweni 2, Olivier, F. Hougaard
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 3

For the Sharks:
Try: Van den Berg
Pens: Dumond 3

Yellow Card: Ku�n (Blue Bulls - 1st minute - foul play)

Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Morn� Steyn, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Wikus van Heerden (c), 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Ku�n, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Francois van Schouwenburg, 19 Jacques Burger, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Derick Hougaard, 22 Zane Kirchner.

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Monty Dumond, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Brad Barritt, 9 Scott Mathie, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Nic Strauss, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (c), 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Chris Jordaan

Referee: JC Fortuin
Touch judges: Christie du Preez, Cobus Wessels
Television match official: Michael Cupido
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel