Eben Etzebeth was usually busy. (Images of Rooster)
When Jake White, sometimes to some skeptical ears, talks about how his undeniably successful Bulls squad is still a young team learning the ropes, he’ll cite Saturday night’s somewhat chaotic 47-20 loss to the Sharks. cunning and powerful in Kings Park as a prominent example.
On the face of it, this was an excellent advertisement for South African rugby’s first New Year’s Eve derby.
Approximately 26,000 people were in a boisterous mood and were rewarded with a performance by the home team that certainly did justice to their Springbok-laden pedigree status.
National captain Siya Kolisi was outstanding in every facet, Eben Etzebeth’s three penalties conceded interspersed with familiarly robust brilliance, Lukhanyo Am pulled the strings in midfield, Ox Nche’s front line, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit blossomed in a scrum time, and Makazole Mapimpi looks reinvigorated.
As incisive as Neil Powell’s accusations were at times, however, this was also a game where the proverbial darker and more subtle art of influencing the whistleman came to the fore in a big way.
And in a vulnerable Marius van der Westhuizen, the grizzled Sharks stars found a suitable target.
HOW IT HAPPENED | Sharks vs Bulls
Following a deceptively decent start from the Bulls, who had Canan Moodie to thank for a terrific solo effort, where he stepped up and neatly read a nasty rebound off the hapless Marnus Potgieter, giving them an early 13-6 lead, they began to get vocal, evidently taking up the bawdy craft of Van der Westhuizen.
He missed a dangerous shot on Bulls No. 8 Elrigh Louw, an armless tackle on Kolisi and arguably gave Nche and company a bit of leeway by dismissing instances where they didn’t scour correctly.
Moodie turned villain when he received a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown which, while it undeniably robbed the Sharks of the try, didn’t exactly sound cynical and Cyle Brink was the victim of a warning from the Bulls team as the Sharks were hitting the ball. line by repeated blows. defensive offences, which felt a bit hollow when the offside line generally seemed arbitrary at times.
20-year-old midfielder Bok’s second yellow for a shoulder hit to the head on a crouching Potgieter summed up the Bulls’ day.
The point here is not that the Sharks were somehow nefarious in their tactics.
All they did was use their experience to turn the tide against a referee whose reputation is not particularly flattering in certain circles.
The smart sides of everyone do it.
And that’s probably what White means.
His charges evidently did not display that kind of cunning.
Instead, the perceived unfairness of a wayward whistle seemed to weigh heavily on the minds of the Bulls, who became passive, undisciplined and confused in their thinking, evidenced by center Chris Smith sending the first-half buzzer over the dead-ball line. and giving the Sharks another three minutes to launch a concerted attacking period that saw the mighty Mbonambi finally storm through.
Since Grant Williams had just come out of a scrum moments earlier, the Bulls were bowled out.
The Sharks combined calm through Curwin Bosch’s boot with more moments of brilliance, notably from Rohan Janse van Rensburg, in attack as they made it safe against the Bulls, who tried to launch some sort of comeback…and failed. noisily.
Goalscorers:
Sharks 47 (30)
Tries: Rohan Janse van Rensburg (2), Penalty Try, Grant Williams, Bongi Mbonambi
Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2)
Penalties: Bosco (4)
Bulls 20 (13)
Attempts: Canan Moodie, Johan Goosen
Conversion: Chris Smith
Penalties: Smith (2)
