The Sharks have had some unlikely victories at Loftus Versfeld over the years, and their shock 29-19 defeat of the Bulls in Saturday night’s United Rugby Championship derby is close to taking the cake.
The Durban team were missing 15 top players, including seven current Springboks, while the Bulls had been on a red-hot streak.
But the Sharks did not get the memo that they were going to lose heavily.
The astonishing result was as much about the Sharks’ dogged refusal to give in – even when they were down to 12 players at one point – as it was to the Bulls being shockingly poor.
This game was supposed to be a gift five log points for Jake White’s men, but they delivered a wretched performance that saw their players bumbling and fumbling like a bunch of ill-trained clowns.
Instead, the fourth-placed Sharks closed the gap on the third-placed Bulls on the URC ladder to just one point, thanks to their five-point haul.
Considering that the Sharks have so many big-name players to come back, they are handsomely placed to nail a home play-off in this competition for the first time.
The Bulls started the game well enough when Jan-Hendrik Wessels scored two minutes into the game, but they lacked the intensity of their more recent games – and White will question the weak attitude of his players.
They were always going to have an advantage in the set-pieces, and they did, but sheer sloppiness prevented them from cashing in.
The Sharks, on the other hand, played with the freedom of a side that had nothing to lose, but they also had a tenacity born of the team culture coach John Plumtree has instilled in them.
The Durbanites had a plan to run the Bulls off their feet, and they had offloading skills to back this up.
Whenever the ball went wide, the Bulls looked vulnerable.
The Player of the Match award went to former Zimbabwean flank Tino Masevere. He delivered an electric performance that included a runaway try near the death of the game, but hard on his heels was winger Ethan Hooker.
He was brilliant on attack, but also in his work-rate. The Westville High Old Boy harassed the Bulls time and again with his pursuit of kicks into the deep, and more often than not, he caught defenders in possession and made them pay.
The Bulls’ lack of focus was reflected in their ill-discipline. A good example of this was Marco van Staden tackling Grant Williams stupidly late, and after the penalty had been kicked to the corner, the ball was swept wide, where Hooker was in space and went over untouched.
At flyhalf, Willie le Roux was awful, and was outclassed by opposite number Siya Masuku.
The incredible thing about this game is that the Sharks kept fighting back after heavy setbacks. In the first half, they lost two Springbok front-rowers to injury in Trevor Nyakane and Bongi Mbonambi.
The pressure upfront came, and they lost both of their locks to the sin-bin. First Jason Jenkins was caught offside, and shortly after, Corné Rahl followed him to the naughty corner.
Somehow, despite being down to 12 players for a few minutes, the Sharks kept the sloppy Bulls at bay and led 15-12 at halftime.
The Bulls were expected to deliver in the second half as the Sharks’ inexperienced bench encountered a powerful Bulls ‘Bomb Squad’.
Instead, the Sharks detonated and ran away with the game in an incredible defiance of what was supposed to happen.
Points-Scorers
Bulls 19 – Tries: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar (2). Conversions: David Kriel (1), Boeta Chamberlain (1).
Sharks 29 – Tries: Ethan Hooker, Jordan Hendrikse, Tino Mavesere, Yaw Penxe. Conversions: Hendrikse (1), Siya Masuku (2). Penalty: Hendrikse (1).