Springbok wing Bryan Habana scored a try two minutes into injury time to lead the Bulls to a thrilling win over the Sharks for their first Super 14 title.
Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard added the conversion from next to the uprights to spoil the party for the 54 000 home fans who turned out to witness the first all-South African Super 14 final.
The Bulls triumphed 20-19 after trailing 10-14 at the break.
The Sharks were on the board after nine minutes with a Percy Montgomery penalty, but four minutes later the Bulls went into the lead with a converted try by number eight Pierre Spies.
The Bulls loose forward sliced between Sharks defenders AJ Venter and Waylon Murray to score under the posts after his captain Victor Matfield had opted to kick into touch to set up the line-out instead of going for goal after winning a penalty inside the home team’s half.
But the Sharks hit back almost immediately through winger JP Pietersen who intercepted a pass from Spies on the halfway line to run all of 50m to score his 12th try of the season.
Montgomery missed the conversion, but put his side back into the lead on the half-hour with his first penalty of the afternoon.
Bulls flyhalf Hougaard edged his side closer with a three-pointer a few minutes later, but the home side finished the half the stronger outfit with a further three points from Montgomery.
Changing sides 14-10 up, the Sharks battled to find the rhythm that saw them dominate the first half, and it was no surprise when the Bulls won a penalty inside the home side’s 22m area on 60 minutes and Hougaard knocked the ball over to close the gap to just a point.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure, but excellent tackling by the home side kept the men from Pretoria out and then with two minutes to go on the clock, replacement lock forward Albert van den Berg found a way through the Bulls defence for his team’s second try. Francois Steyn missed the conversion.
Then with the last move of the game, Habana went over next to the uprights after beating two defenders and the conversion by Hougaard sealed a one-point win for the visitors. — Sapa-AFP