Bulls v Sharks: History tells us another URC knockout classic is loading

It has all the makings of a United Rugby Championship (URC) classic, as the Bulls are set to host the Sharks in a massive semifinal match-up at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.

A crowd of over 50,000 fans is expected at what should be a sold-out match, and will pit the country’s two strongest unions against each other for a place in the URC final.

The Bulls will be hunting a third final appearance in four seasons, while the Sharks will be hoping to reach the trophy game for the first time, having previously been dumped out at the quarterfinal stage on two occasions.

One of them was in the inaugural URC season; an absolute classic of a match that saw the Bulls edge a thrilling 30-27 win thanks to a drop goal from Chris Smith after the fulltime hooter.

That game was played while Covid restrictions were still in place, so a boisterous crowd of over 22,000 fans were kept on the edge of their seats throughout a terrific 80-minute contest, that saw the sides level at 13-all at halftime, and 27-all as the clock ticked into the red.

A similar contest could be on the cards this weekend, and the in-form Bulls will be favourites, but if any team was to topple them it would be their arch rivals from Durban.

The Bulls have only lost four times in 19 URC games this season, but two of those defeats have come against the Sharks, who clinched a tight 20-17 win on the coast, before stunning their rivals with a 29-19 win on the Highveld.

Plenty of confidence

That will give the visitors plenty of confidence heading into the semis, and after picking up a historic penalty shootout win in their quarterfinal against Munster over the past weekend, which saw 100 minutes of rugby after going to extra time and ending 24-all, they will need everything they can get.

Sharks coach John Plumtree admitted that they might amend their training a bit this week due to the extra playing time, but said that was something they would only discuss at training on Monday, after being asked about it in the post-match press conference.

“I haven’t even thought about that (the Bulls semifinal). Give me a moment to catch my breath. I am not thinking about that yet. We will get the group together on Monday, see how everyone is and then we might have to adjust our programme a little bit,” said Plumtree.

Bulls coach Jake White is himself pleased with his side’s efforts in overturning a 21-8 deficit in the first half, to emerge 42-33 victors over Edinburgh in their quarterfinal at Loftus.

He was particularly pleased that they were able to fight back, after they suffered a similar slow start to the same team in their Challenge Cup quarterfinal a few months ago, but went on to lose that game.

“We were down but got a (winning) result. Whereas the last time we played them, we didn’t,” said a happy White.