Oh, yet once more, a Bulls versus Sharks game — dubbed Sharkfest these days — yielded an epic David-versus-Goliath encounter, with an improbable last-gasp win for the erstwhile Banana Boys. Once again, the bigger, stronger Bulls, so dominant in the scrums and line-outs, were undone in the closing minutes by a smaller, thief-like team. Given my age, and having experienced the emotional roller coaster of the Bulls snatching victory over the Sharks — no thanks to that damn flying try by Bryan Habana in a Super Rugby final — as well as the high of seeing Craig Jamieson lifting the Currie Cup at Loftus in 1990, I was having flashbacks in the closing minutes on Saturday.
To complete the memories, it was a pint-sized, wily Sharks scrumhalf who had the last laugh, engineering the win emphatically with a splendid chip kick gathered by a speedy wing. Once again, the enigma of a rugby game in which a smaller team stands up to giants from north of the Jukskei came to pass. It mattered not that the Bulls were on a serious losing streak, or that the Sharks had a new and young coach.
The consensus was that the Bulls would simply overpower the Sharks and could rely on two great playmakers and a great kicker in Willie le Roux and Handré Pollard respectively. However, by the end of the game it was clear that Willie should retire before he gets seriously injured, and that Pollard is no longer the cool, calm and collected World Cup winner, given the emergence and brilliance of one Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. The game hung in the balance until the dying minutes, when new coach J.P.
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Pietersen sent on the nuggety nuisance Jayden Hendrikse to replace the livewire Grant Williams at scrumhalf, with Williams moving to the wing. He also introduced the ever-reliable George Whitehead, in case a penalty kick would decide the outcome.
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