The Hollywood Bets Sharks booked themselves a spot in this year’s Currie Cup final after playing out to a dramatic 40-40 stalemate in extra time against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday. 

However, the Sharks emerged victorious against the Bulls due to having scored the majority of tries.

This was the second time in consecutive weeks that the Sharks won, having claimed a 24-18 win in the final round-robin encounter last week in Durban. 

The home side was dealt an injury blow early on after wing Henry Immelman was ruled out with an injury which forced head coach Phiwo Nomlomo to start Katlego Letebele on the right wing and add Cornel Smit on the bench. Playing in front of their supporters, the Bulls started positively when Johan Goosen converted a penalty to give his side a 3-0 lead with just five minutes played. 

That joy was quickly short-lived as the visitors bounced back immediately from the kick-off after Emile van Heerden charged down and chased a Keagan Johannes box kick to dot over in the corner for his side’s first try of the match, converted by Siya Masuku. The Bulls, however, were restless, and minutes later, Johannes made up for his flop when he spotted an opening in the Sharks defensive line before sidestepping Masuku to dot over the whitewash. 

The visitors, after that, had a try disallowed but on the other side of the field, Goosen converted another three-pointer before Akker van der Merwe linked up with bulldozing eight-man, Cameron Hanekom at lineout time who burst into pace to dive over in the corner. The Sharks refused to go down without a fight and scored twice in quick succession through scrumhalf, Bradley Davids, and openside flanker, James Venter to make it a one-point ball game at 20-19. 

Goosen, however, wasn’t done and slotted over another penalty to put his side 23-19 in front at the break. The hosts, just as they did in the first half opened the scoring in the second stanza through a Stravino Jacobs five-pointer. They were, however, forced to play for 10 minutes with a player down after Marcell Coetzee was sent to the sin bin for cynical play. The Sharks converted on the one-man advantage scoring twice through Ethan Hooker, and Andre Esterhuizen to take a 33-30 lead heading into the final quarter of the match. 

The visitors were then dealt a massive blow when Francois Venter was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on Stravino Jacobs before Dian Bleuler and Jordan Hendriske were sent to the sin bin, forcing the Sharks to finish the match with 12 players. They held on, and despite Goosen making it 33-33 late in the game, the Sharks prevented them from scoring, forcing the match into extra time. The Bulls struck first during extra time scoring through Jacobs to take a 40-33 lead after a successful conversion by Boeta Chamberlain. 

The second half was highly contested, but the Durban side fired back with two minutes remaining after veteran prop, Trevor Nyakane, who was the skipper of Bulls before, powered his way over the line, his score converted by Lionel Cronje to make it 40-40.

Chamberlain had an opportunity with the last kick of the match to seal the win for his side but his attempt fell short, and despite the draw, the Sharks won based on the number of tries scored. They will face the Lions in the final at Emirates Airlines Park next weekend.