The Blue Bulls came to Durban to show their horns on Saturday — and they accomplished their mission with a 50-32 drubbing in a brutal Currie Cup match at the Absa Stadium. With ten tries — six to the Bulls including a penalty try, and four to the Sharks — both sides secured a bonus point.
For the Bulls it was a win they desperately needed to keep the Lions at bay in the hunt for a semifinal berth. For the Sharks the loss means they may lose out on a home semifinal spot as they must take on the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein next weekend.
The Bulls made their intentions clear from the outset with four tries within the first 30 minutes and another before halftime. This saw them leading 27-20.
But a succession of errors at the start of the second period effectively ended the Sharks’s challenge as two more tries were added in the first 10 minutes. The Bulls were home and dry.
They pressed their advantage with a couple of penalty goals in the space of a minute and the Sharks, suffering from the loss of three valuable players — AJ Venter, BJ Botha and Deon Carstens — were never quite on the boil.
Tries were scored almost every eight minutes of the first half as the Sharks managed to fight back to 20-20.
The difference in the end was that Springboks Pierre Spies and Jacques Olivier played their best rugby of the season.
Olivier scored a brilliant try of his own accord and was the architect of another for wing Akona Ndungane. Spies bagged a try after halftime and forced the penalty try after Francois Steyn showed his lack of defensive experience.
The Bulls were dominant in most phases of the play and their pack was quite brutal. Only one man was sin-binned by referee Marc Lawrence . – Sapa