Coach John Plumtree would have been ticking boxes long into the night because of the wealth of intelligence he got out of the game. Still, the big positive that would have had him sleeping sweetly is the confirmation that he finally has the right culture in place at the Sharks 18 months after he started his second tenure in Durban.
The Sharks fought with enormous grit to make it through the Currie final after getting through on a positive try differential after the game ended 40-40 at the end of extra time.
At one point late in the game the Sharks were down to 12 men but they refused to give in. It was a strange sight to see a depleted Sharks team force the Bulls into squandering a feast of try-scoring opportunities how former Bulls lineout king Victor Matfield a commentator at the game must have cringed as the Bulls lineout imploded in the last quarter.
All they had to do was win their ball and with a three-man advantage they would have been able to walk in tries but the Sharks veteran Gerbrandt Grobler showed wile and skill to poach throw after throw.
The Bulls could not convert and regular time finished at 33-33. The Bulls thought they had nailed it when wing Stravino Jacobs scored in the first half of extra time but it isnt over until the fat man sings With two minutes to go, the rotund Trevor Nyakane found himself in space out wide and his dream of selling a dummy to a backline centre came off and rumbled through the defence to score what would be the match-winning try.
