Petersen’s mistake takes Bulls-Sharks game to a draw
Although the Bulls did not manage to beat the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, they could at least maintain their unbeaten record at home with a draw.
In similar fashion to the 2007 final of this competition, Lady Luck smiled on the Bulls again on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld. The Sharks’ fly half, Joe Petersen missed a penalty right in front of the goalposts in the dying seconds of the game, to end the SupeRugby match in a 16-all draw.
Petersen had an opportunity to clinch a victory for the Sharks in the final seconds of this tough match.
Tian Schoeman, Bulls reserve fly half started the bizarre episode two minutes before the end of the match when he tied the score with a penalty from the halfway line. The Bulls simply had to maintain ball possession from the kick-off to end the game in a draw. But an offense at a ruck in front of the Bulls goal posts had the Sharks and their supporters celebrating prematurely. The penalty was a mere formality to clinch a 19-16 victory for the Sharks.
Maybe a draw was after all the best outcome for this tough game. After much rain in Pretoria over the past week, the heavy and wet surface was going to be a factor in this game. To make matters worse it started raining again shortly before kick-off.
In the first half the Bulls certainly adapted better to these conditions. They managed to hold their own up front against the dangerous pack of Sharks forwards. Behind the Bulls pack Francois Brummer had an edge on Joe Petersen who struggled to shine behind the struggling Sharks forwards. Maybe the Bulls benefited from practicing in wet conditions all week, handling the ball well despite the weather.
The first try of the match only came after half an hour’s play when Brummer slipped halfway through a gap to send Warrick Gelant away, dashing past grasping hands of two Sharks defenders.
In the second half it was a different Sharks team that came through the tunnel. Suddenly they were much more accurate in the loose and their attacking game plan also fell into place. A slip by Gelant, who otherwise played exceptionally well, gave Willie le Roux an opportunity to score the equalizer try ten minutes into the second half.
Then followed a 30 minute phase of intense struggle with both teams defending well before the outcome of the game was decided by those final tense moments.
