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Sharks make mincemeat of Bulls

Meshack Khotha

Meshack Khotha

The Bulls learned the hard way that a game is not won until the final whistle when they went down 15-29 to their counterparts the Sharks in an exciting South African Super 14 derby at Loftus on Saturday night.

This after the defending champions had secured a 15-10 lead in the 63th minute of the game with their supporters clad in blue and white expecting their favourites to run over the Durbanites once more.

But it is the Sharks who proved the old adage, "once bitten, twice shy".

A a try apiece by Odwa Ndungane (39th minute), Frederic Michalak (72nd) minute), Keegan Daniel (75th) and Jacques Botes (77th) and two conversions by Rory Kockott secured them the win and the bonus point.

Coach Dick Muir could not have asked for more from his charges after the Bulls beat them in the final of this prestigious competition last year, with a late try from Bryan Habana in Durban.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke and his technical team should be asking themselves what went wrong after a promising start.

The win saw the unbeaten Sharks consolidating third position on the log with 13 points from three games.

It was a bleak weekend for other South African teams as log leaders the Blues gave the Cheetahs a humiliating 50-26 hiding in Bloemfontein.

Second-placed Crusaders ruthlessly trounced the Stormers 22-0 while the Lions narrowly lost 16-18 to the Force.

In other games, the Brumbies secured a bonus point after routing the Reds 43-11 and the Waratahs edged out the Highlanders 15-12.

Meanwhile, the Blue Bulls showed no mercy to the Wildebeest when they crushed them 39-10 in a Vodacom Cup game in Pretoria yesterday.

Other results: Boland Kavaliers 29, Platinum Leopards 25; Free Sate 36, Falcons 33; Wildeklawer Griquas 58, SWD 20; Pumas 57, BA Mighty Elephants 17; Griffons 41, Border 27.

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