The Vodacom Bulls booked their place in a second successive URC final after surviving three yellow cards to beat the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.
The Bulls dominated the scrum battle and scoreboard, leading 15-3 despite ending the first half with 13 men. Man of the Match Sebastian de Klerk opened the scoring after Embrose Papier’s electric break from near halfway, with fit-again flyhalf Johan Goosen converting.
Canan Moodie extended the advantage through De Klerk’s pinpoint cross-kick, catching fellow Springbok speedster Makazole Mapimpi napping out wide before going over in the corner.
Flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse’s solitary penalty summed up the Sharks’ response after missing two attempts. The Bulls’ discipline crumbled inside the second quarter as centre Harold Venter, No 8 Cameron Hanekom and flanker Marcell Coetzee all saw yellow.
However, the hosts twice held firm in defence of their tryline as the Sharks pressed before the break.
Mapimpi struck first for the visitors after the restart, exploiting a two-man overlap to score out wide, Hendrikse again missing the conversion.
Winger Ethan Hooker’s ninth try of the campaign brought the Sharks within two points, but Bulls replacement Keagan Johannes steadied the hosts’ nerves with a crucial penalty. He missed his second attempt before midfielder David Kriel capped off a scintillating break ignited by Papier and lock Cobus Wiese.
Johannes converted to complete the scoring and secure the Bulls’ third appearance in the URC decider in four attempts, while avenging two league-stage defeats to the Sharks this season.
However, White will be sweating over the availability of Hanekom, the URC’s Next-Gen Player departing in the 49th minute via a golf cart after going down clutching his hamstring.
