Currie Cup Final Prediction: Bulls v Sharks

History will repeat itself or be made when the Bulls and Sharks collide in the Currie Cup final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The two teams met in last season’s decider at the same venue, where the home team eked out a 26-19 courtesy of an Arno Botha try 73 seconds from the end of extra time. Much has changed since that classic January cliffhanger, and while the Durbanites shouldn’t be dismissed, their task this time around is considerably taller.

Currie Cup Team Of The Weekend – Semi-Finals

Bulls v Sharks

(Saturday – 17:00)

Exhibit one, the contrasting performances they put forth in their semi-final triumphs last weekend, each a summation of their respective campaigns. The Bulls were a well-oiled juggernaut, firing on all cylinders as they crushed Western Province 48-31.

Meanwhile, based on their 28-24 win over Griquas, the Sharks aren’t exactly “Marching to Pretoria” as the song goes. They were far from their best in an error-ridden game that was the antithesis of the free-flowing first semi-final, so one can automatically expect an improved performance from the men in black and white come Saturday. The question is, will that be enough to dethrone the defending champions?

One thing that’s for sure is they won’t lack belief. After all, they were the only side to score a “legitimate” win over Jake White’s charges this season. Western Province prevailed 48-24 in the opening round of the competition, but that result has a boulder-sized asterisk next to it as it came against a Bulls side in name alone.

The men in blue who ran out at Loftus that day were club players, as the true team were in Italy to tackle Treviso in the Rainbow Cup final. The Sharks, for their part, trumped a full-strength Bulls side 35-28 and while it shouldn’t take anything away from that victory, it’s important to note it came in Durban and not Pretoria.

The true Bulls, not those who featured in the abovementioned first-round North-South derby, are unbeaten at home under White, whose Midas touch from tactics to recruitment and everything in between has restored Loftus to its former fortress stature.

It’s clear that it’s going to take a special effort to beat the Bulls in their backyard. Again, though, if any local side can do it, it’s the Sharks. They proved in that last meeting (the only of the campaign as the other was cancelled due to unrest) they have the pack to match the size, power and physicality of the Pretoria outfit, while they also have a talented backline that’s tough to contain when they’re on.

The major problem for the Sharks, not only with regards to their backs but overall, has been their inconsistency. They’ve bounced from being fluid one week to haphazard the next, whereas the Bulls have been flying high for much of the season.

As unheard of as it is, the Bulls have a better backline than the Sharks, a devastating division that’s consistently run the opposition off their feet. As good as their pack’s been in laying the platform upfront, it’s the backline that’s been the fast and furious Bulls’ key to victory.

Their unrivalled balance and synergy from 9-15 are at the heart of their conversion rate, which has seen them pull away from their foes. Co-pilots Zak Burger and Johan Goosen are in imperious form, Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe have only built on the years they spent manning the midfield at the Lions, wings Madosh Tambwe and Cornal Hendricks are fire and brimstone and David Kriel’s as tactically sound and secure as they come at fullback.

Covid has thrown a major spanner in the works, though, with news breaking on Tuesday that Goosen will miss the final after testing positive for the virus. Chris Smith is a talented flyhalf and accurate goal-kicking, but he’s not nearly the distributor that Goosen is. Few are to be fair, with White nailing it on the head when he compared Goosen to Wallabies legend Stephen Larkham after his superb showing last weekend.

The Sharks have excellent individual backs but as a unit, they’re still misfiring. Defensively, the Durbanites have conceded the least number of tries this season – 26 – with the Bulls in second place, having leaked 30 five-pointers. At altitude against the fire-breathing Bulls, however, the Sharks have let in more than 40 points in four of the last five fixtures.

Sean Everitt’s men will hang tough but eventually, they’ll be unable to keep up with the sustained pace and power of the Bulls in a high-octane and high-scoring game that ends in a fairly comfortable victory for the hosts.

Prediction: I had little doubt that the Bulls would overcome the -11.5 handicap before the Goosen bombshell dropped. Losing their star flyhalf’s a game-changing blow; it won’t lead to heartache for the hosts, however, it should see Sharks cover the spread. Bulls by 10.