A massive 47 000 strong crowd witnessed a titanic battle between the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Vodacom Bulls before the home side secured their place in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final after their 25-13 victory in Pretoria on Saturday.
The early stages of the game showed just how competitive it was going to be with the battle of the scrums, lineout steals, an intercept try that was disallowed and then the home side scoring the first try with a mesmerising run that had the defence out of alignment in the opening 10 minutes for a 7-nil lead early on.
The Vodacom Bulls’ relentless pressure, driven on by their vociferous home crowd, realised a second try as the game hit the second quarter, a good steal by the Hollywoodbets Sharks in their 22 easing the pressure and then the clearance not finding touch and a cross-kick to the corner found the man and the try for a 12-0 lead.
A penalty from right in front after the Vodacom Bulls infringed at the breakdown saw Jordan Hendrikse striking the ball through the uprights to get the scoreboard going for the Hollywoodbets as they cut the deficit to nine points with the game approaching the half hour mark.
The home side took a second blow moments later, losing a man to a yellow card for a cynical act at the tackle following a lovely break from Makazole Mapimpi.
They managed to ride the storm with the one man disadvantage, scoring a penalty with five minutes of the half remaining, before losing another player to the sin-bin for a tip-tackle on captain Siya Kolisi.
Another yellow card, this time for sacking a rolling maul, saw the home side again reduced to 13 men as they defending their line with determination, but ill-discipline.
They somehow managed to survive the onslaught, the referee ruling that Ox Nche was held up over the line to close out the end of a tense first half with the Pretoria side leading 15-3 at the break.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks started the second half as they had ended the first, pressurising the home side and putting together a sustained, multi-phase attack that this time reaped the perfect reward, Mapimpi showing a clean pair of heels as he scorched towards the corner and scoring the opening try for his side to make it a 15-8 game within the opening five minutes.
Playing with confidence, the Hollywoodbets Sharks doubled their try-scoring tally when Ethan Hooker went over to cut the lead to two points, the home team holding out under immense pressure, but a clinical build-up eventually broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute.
A penalty for the Vodacom Bulls pushed them into an 18-13 lead as the game headed for the final quarter.
With the ebb and flow of energy shifting from one side to the other, the home side had built up confidence and after missing a penalty, they took the kick-off and scored immediately, extending their lead to 25-13 with 12 minutes to go.
The game closed out with the Hollywoodbets Sharks pushing hard for a score that would cut the deficit and open up the opportunity to snatch a late victory, but the home side stood up in the face of all kinds of pressure to hold out for the win and a place in the final.