Africa-Press – South-Africa. When Jake White – sometimes to some sceptical ears – talks about how his undeniably successful Bulls squad is still a young one learning the ropes, he’ll cite Saturday evening’s somewhat chaotic 47-20 defeat to a shrewd and powerful Sharks at Kings Park as a prominent example.
To the naked eye, this was an excellent advertisement for South African rugby’s very first New Year’s Eve derby.
Approximately 26 000 people were in a boisterous mood and rewarded with a home team performance that certainly did its pedigreed, Springbok-laden status justice.
National skipper Siya Kolisi was outstanding in all facets, Eben Etzebeth’s three conceded penalties were interspersed with some familiarly robust brilliance, Lukhanyo Am pulled the strings in midfield, the front row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit flourished a scrum time, and Makazole Mapimpi looks revitalised.
Yet, as incisive as Neil Powell’s charges were at times, this was also a game where the proverbial darker, subtler art of influencing the man of the whistle was writ large.
And in a vulnerable Marius van der Westhuizen, the Sharks’ grizzled stars found a suitable target.
AS IT HAPPENED | Sharks v Bulls
Following a deceptively decent start by the Bulls, who had Canan Moodie to thank for a magnificent solo effort – where he chipped forward and neatly read a nasty bounce on the unfortunate Marnus Potgieter – that gave them an early 13-6 lead, they started becoming vocal, evidently picking up on Van der Westhuizen’s off-colour officiating.
He missed a dangerous hit on Bulls No 8 Elrigh Louw, a no-arms tackle on Kolisi and arguably gave Nche and co a bit of a free ride by discarding instances of of them not scrumming straight.
Moodie turned villain when he was yellow carded for a deliberate knockdown that, while undeniably robbing the Sharks of the try, didn’t exactly look cynical and Cyle Brink was the victim of a Bulls team warning when the Sharks were hammering at the line for repeated defensive infringements, which felt a tad hollow when the offside line, in general, seemed arbitrary at times.
The 20-year-old Bok flyer’s second yellow for a shoulder-to-the-head hit on a crouching Potgieter summed up the Bulls’ day.
The point here is not that the Sharks were in any way nefarious in their tactics.
All they did was use their experience to turn the tide against an arbiter whose reputation is not particularly flattering in certain circles.
Smart sides all around the world do it.
And that’s probably what White’s getting at.
His charges patently didn’t display that type of canniness.
Instead, the perceived injustice of a wayward whistle seemed to weigh on the Bulls’ minds, who became passive, indisciplined and muddled in their thinking – evidenced by pivot Chris Smith sending the first half hooter kick-off over the dead-ball line and handing the Sharks another three minutes to launch a concerted period of attack that saw the powerful Mbonambi finally barge over.
Given that Grant Williams had just sniped over from a scrum a few moments earlier, the stuffing was knocked out of the Bulls.
The Sharks combined calm through the boot of Curwin Bosch with more moments of brilliance, notably from Rohan Janse van Rensburg, on attack as they made the game safe against the Bulls, who tried to launch some form of comeback … and failed miserably.
Scorers:
Sharks 47 (30)
Tries: Rohan Janse van Rensburg (2), Penalty try, Grant Williams, Bongi Mbonambi
Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2)
Penalties: Bosch (4)
Bulls 20 (13)
Tries: Canan Moodie, Johan Goosen
Conversion: Chris Smith
Penalties: Smith (2)
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