“This game was weird, because we had it in our hands and then we kind of let it go – that’s the part that’s disappointing.”
That, in a nutshell, captured the mood of Blue Bulls coach Phiwe Nomlomo after his team didn’t actually lose, but were knocked out of the Currie Cup by the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
Competition rules dictate that if the scores are level after extra time, the team with the most tries advances to the next round, and that’s exactly what happened after the 40-40 semi-final draw, with the Durban outfit booking a spot in Saturday’s final against the Lions at Ellis Park (4pm start) by dotting down six times to the Bulls’ four.
The Bulls had two opportunities to seal the deal, though, with Johan Goosen missing a penalty from the halfway line on the 80-minute hooter, and then Boeta Chamberlain wasn’t able to slot an angled penalty from the Sharks’ 10m line at the end of extra time.
It should never have come to that, as the Bulls led 20-7 in the first half and then 30-19 in the second, and at one point in the closing stages, they faced only 12 men as the Sharks had Francois Venter sent off with a red card, as well as yellows to Dian Bleuler and Jordan Hendrikse.
Ye, they were unable to bury the visitors, so, in the beautiful chaos of a dramatic semi-final, they only have themselves to blame for not getting over the line – particularly with a series of scrums inside the Sharks 22 in the last 10 minutes of regulation time.
Cameron Hanekom outpaces Ethan Hooker to score in the corner 🏉🔥
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Somehow, John Plumtree’s team scrambled on defence and showed tremendous resolve to hold on after 100 minutes of thrilling action. There was also an argument to be made for kicking that last penalty into touch instead of Chamberlain going for the posts, as it was an extremely difficult position on the field.
“I trust my players explicitly. That’s the bravery that I wanted. He called for the tee straight on, and that was beautiful to see. Like I said, he’s going to grow from it, from strength to strength,” Nomlomo said about that Chamberlain penalty.
“We slipped a few tackles in that first half especially, just one-on-one stuff, and we will have a look at that – that was disappointing at times.
The Loftus faithful are enjoying themselves ✨
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“There’s a lot to take out of this, which was really, really good. Could we have been better? Of course, we could’ve been a lot more accurate.
“We broke the line a couple of times in that first half, and we could’ve possibly put the game to bed with a bit more accuracy and patience.
“When they had 12 guys on the park and we had 15, I just wished that we had been more brave to then play.
“This game was weird, because we had it in our hands and then we kind of let it go – that’s the part that’s disappointing.
Unbelievable scenes at Loftus Versfeld 😲
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 14, 2024
The Hollywoodbets Sharks defy the odds to reach the 2024 #CarlingCurrieCup final 🦈🏉
This match is a must-see if you missed it 🍿 pic.twitter.com/7yZOWt2oeH
“Our guys were valiant out there. We always knew they were going to be undercooked in terms of game time. But the effort, resilience, I can’t fault the guys at all.
“I don’t know about how we all measure success ... I don’t think, for us, that this was a successful season. Did we do well at times during the season? Yes, incredible.
“A loss comes down to one person, which is the head coach. That’s the tough part. I will probably have sleepless nights for a while, but we’ll get over that.”