Bulls hoist Currie Cup for first time in 11 years

It took a total of one hundred draining minutes but, as Jaco Peyper blew the final whistle, the Bulls found themselves to be Currie Cup champions after a drought lasting over a decade.

The Bulls ran out onto the pitch at Loftus Versveld where waited a Sharks outfit that many had written off before the game, but who showed admirable courage in the way they stood firm and took the game to their opponents.

The game was paused for twenty-four minutes as the teams were instructed to leave the field as lightning struck overhead in a typical Highveld afternoon storm.

The first half belonged to the Sharks who led 13-9 at the break after two penalties by fly-half Curwin Bosch and a superb try by winger Sibusiso Nkosi.

With the storm past, the second half opened up somewhat with both sides electing to attack with ball in hand. The Sharks edged 16-9 ahead after a couple minutes of the second stanza through a Bosch penalty, a feat he repeated some fifteen minutes later to take his team to 19 points, placing them firmly in the driver’s seat.

However, the Bulls hit back in the 64^th minute as flanker Arno Botha crashed over for his team’s first try of the match, narrowing the Sharks lead.

With two minutes left the play, the Sharks, with a slender, three-point lead, let themselves down by giving away an offside penalty which the grateful Bulls capitalised on to tie up the scores at 19-all and thus induce twenty minutes of extra time.

Weary as they were after a hard-fought eighty minutes, the teams threw everything they had at one another in a twenty-minute war of attrition. With just over a minute left, Arno Botha showed his strength again, bulldozing his way over from a ruck in a very similar effort to his first try, thus handing his side the trophy.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Sharks after a strong effort, not least so for Bosch, who has come in for much criticism after an off day with the boot which saw him miss five kicks at goal. His coach, however, has stood by his fly-half.

“I’m not disappointed that he didn’t kick everything over,” Sharks head coach Sean Everitt said. “He’s done it time and time again for us this year. It’s like golfers – you have a bad day, and maybe today he wasn’t up to the standard that we are used to. But, that guy has been amazing for us.

“Like I said during the week, he pulled us out of the trenches, and unfortunately, today it didn’t go his way. Morné missed kicks, and Chris Smith missed one to win the game after 80 minutes. So, we can look at all the kickers in that respect, if you like,” Everitt added.

Bulls boss Jake White was satisfied after the victory, citing the use of the bench as a prominent factor in the successful campaign.

“The one thing that worked in our favour is that we used our bench a lot this season,” White said.

“You look at teams like the Lions – Elton [Jantjies] played every minute, 80 minutes every game.

“You look at a guy like [Sharks fly-half] Curwin [Bosch]. He played almost every minute. Not many fly-halves get on in that situation.

“If you look at him [Bosch], then look at the props and you look at the locks that have come on. We felt more comfortable as a group that we could use our bench and the bench has shown that they can actually win games [when] you need [them] at the back end of the game.

“They’ve been there as a group and I’m talking about coming off the bench – [players like] Chris Smith, Arno Botha, Jan Uys and all those guys who have had game time.

“I’m sure that they felt the pressure, but I just felt comfortable about the fact that we could put them on.”

White went on to highlight the effective leadership figures within the Bulls’ camp.

“[Starting captain] Duane [Vermeulen] played 100 minutes and for a guy who’s obviously getting on, we had to manage him from week to week.

“He was calm, just like Arno Botha – who came on as one of our captains, spoke nicely and obviously kept them calm.

“Other teams generally pick their No.10s to play 80 minutes, 80 minutes, 80 minutes. The nice thing was he [Smith] kicked the winner at Newlands. I know he missed that penalty [in extra time], but I just felt that the time we’ve given our bench over the year it was always going to be a telling factor and – especially when it went into injury time and extra time.

“[It was] the composure of the bench players that came on. They did it because they’ve been on the field many time this season and I think they get comfortable. This was not the only game they’ve come back to win – they’ve come back and won other games as bench players.

“It’s definitely something that we’re very happy about. Our bench have had the ability to grow as a group throughout the season.”