French Test flyhalf Frederick Michalak scored his first try in Super 14 rugby when the Sharks beat the Bulls 29-15 in an all-South African match on Saturday.
Michalak scored the first of three Sharks tries in the final 10 minutes to help maintain his team’s unbeaten start to the season and settle a match in which the lead changed hands four times.
The Sharks were held scoreless until the 38th minute when right wing Odwa Ndungane was given an overlap as the ball was moved down the backline from a ruck close to the Bulls’ line.
Scrumhalf Rory Kockott converted to cancel out two earlier penalties from Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn.
Steyn kicked two more penalties and a drop goal at the start of the second half to one from Kockott to give his side what was a commanding five-point lead in the context of the match up to that point.
But Bulls centre JP Nel was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Francois Steyn with 12 minutes to go and the Sharks brilliantly exploited the space.
Two minutes later they broke from their own 22 and, after a succession of phases involving forwards and backs, Michalak popped up on the right-hand flank to canter in from 10m and loop round closer to the posts as he levelled the scores.
Kockott missed the conversion that would have put his side into the lead but it hardly mattered as the Sharks ran in two more tries in as many minutes shortly afterwards.
Flanker Keegan Daniel scored the first when his team broke away down the blindside of a scrum 30m out, exploiting the gap left by Nel’s sin-binning.
Straight from the restart, the Sharks went back down the field and replacement back rower Jacques Botes dived under the crossbar after the Bulls had lost possession on halfway. – Reuters