Glory day for Sharks at last

 

October 27, 2008

Zululand OBSERVER

	Glory day for Sharks at last Frédéric Michalak, Waylon Murray, Odwa Ndungane and JP Pietersen Steven Sykes and John Smit hoist coach John Plumtree onto their shoulders Sharks Captain - Johann Muller with his wife Mariska celebrate the victory Carl de Villiers IT took 12 years of hard toil and heart-breaking disappointments before the Sharks could once again experience glory as rugby champions. But apart from having to overcome the rampant blue raiders from the north, they even had a ghost to bury in the closing minutes – the same one unleashed upon them in the Super 14 final which haunted the Shark Tank for many months after Bryan Habana snatched victory for the Bulls in the dying seconds. It swooped in once more at a stage when everyone in black already started celebrating. It was a four act play. With the clock in rapid countdown, Francois Steyn received possession out of range of anything significant and everybody sat back in anticipation of the expected time-consuming touchline or up-field kick. With the defence rushing in, he pulled back suddenly, sidestepped and set in motion a set of penetrating moves that took the Sharks to the Bulls' line. Penalty And when Bulls skipper Victor Matfield frantically dived over the ruck like a leopard, convinced the ball was clear and got penalised by referee Jonathan Kaplan, it was all over bar the shouting. Or so one thought. Steyn pulled the kick left of the posts, enabling the visitors a last chance to spoil the party. The blue machine surged forward and appeared unstoppable. That was when everybody saw and feared the ghost - but this time it turned on the Pretoria squad as No 8 Pierre Spies, eager to take over Chiliboy Ralepelle's charge to the line, accidently went off-side. There was the last telling scrum with a Fourie du Preez throw-in and palms were sweating profusely. The Sharks wheeled and overturned possession – and the stadium erupted. The Cup was back home. It was a close finish, but should not have been. Better team The Sharks were the better team on the day. With their forwards one up in engine room exchanges, the Bulls were effectively kept on the back foot and manageable most of the time. Two tries to nil tells the story. Bulls flyhalf Morné Steyn's boot kept them in play, especially a critical drop goal after half-time to narrow the score to 7-6, but on this occasion there simple were not enough penalties to go by to gain the edge. The Bulls also paid a heavy price for their persistent hoisting of the ball into centre field. The home side is more effective at counter-attacking and even when it became very clear that this tactic only put the men in blue back under pressure, they kept at it. In the end the Sharks' superior passion and commitment, aided by better execution of their game plan, carried the day. The best example of the home side's attitude was when future Springbok flanker Jean Deyzel swatted giant Bulls lock Danie Rossouw aside. Scorers Sharks Tries by Ruan Pienaar and Francois Steyn. Conversions by Pienaar and Frédéric Michalak. Bulls Two penalties and a drop goal by Morné Steyn.