Jordan Hendrikse scored a try at the death while Siya Masuku kicked 14 points as the Sharks XV overturned a first-half deficit to beat the Vodacom Bulls in a wet Durban on Sunday.
Trailing 8-7 at half time, fullback Hendrikse barged over in the right corner before Masuku notched his fourth penalty before the final hooter to secure a 24-18 victory for the Sharks in the final match of the regular 2024 Currie Cup season at Kings Park.
Both teams had already booked their place in the semi-finals of this year’s edition of rugby’s oldest competition, and will renew hostilities in Pretoria next Saturday to decide which team faces the winners between the Lions and Cheetahs in the showpiece on 21 September.
With one eye on next week’s playoffs while prepping for the 2024-25 Vodacom URC, head coaches Phiwe Nomlomo and John Plumtree on Sunday both fielded formidable lineups bolstered by the likes of two-time Springbok world champions Makazole Mapimpi and Trevor Nyakane, along with seasoned campaigners Marcell Coetzee and Wilco Louw.
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Sharks boss Plumtree, though, will be sweating the availability of Bok powerhouse Ruan Dreyer and outside centre Jurienzo Julius, as will Nomlomo over veteran Bulls fullback Devon Williams, who looked to have pulled a hamstring and was helped from the field.
A first-half try from hooker Akker van der Merwe and three points from the boot of flyhalf Jaco van der Walt powered the visitors in front, but a converted Dylan Richardson touchdown kept the hosts within touching distance at the break.
However, the Sharks will have kicked themselves for failing to capitalise on a two-man numerical advantage in the closing stages of the second quarter after Bulls centres David Kriel and Harold Vorster both earned 10 minutes on the naughty chair – Kriel for repeat team infringements while Vorster saw yellow for a head-on-head collision with Julius.
Two well-struck Masuku penalties either side of a Van der Walt strike earned the home side the lead after the restart, before the Highvelders regained their advantage courtesy of an impressive finish in the endzone by scrumhalf Embrose Papier.
Van der Walt added the extras, but the former Scotland playmaker missed a relatively easy effort from the kicking tee to put the Bulls eight points in front as the match entered the final 15 minutes.
Masuku made no mistake from in front of the sticks to close the gap on the scoreboard to two points, before adding the finishing touches to a hard-fought comeback following Hendrikse’s five-pointer.
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
