Bulls bench bullies Sharks

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Three fourth-quarter tries from the Vodacom Bulls’ bench buried the Sharks in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.

Replacements Embrose Papier, Stravino Jacobs and Jan-Hendrik Wessels came off the bench in the second half to spark a 21-point purple patch for the hosts.

Despite twice relinquishing the lead to the Sharks, the Bulls rebounded to claim a 40-27 victory.

A fast start was brought to a halt when Sharks inside centre Ben Tapuai was stretchered off the field after taking a knee to the head in an attempted tackle on Bulls skipper Marcell Coetzee.

Following the restart of play, Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith kicked three penalties, his Sharks counterpart, Boeta Chamberlain, slotting one in reply.

The match came to life in the 36th minute when Coetzee latched onto a turnover to crash over for the hosts.

With the first-half ticking into overtime, the Sharks struck through Tapuai’s replacement, Marnus Potgieter who showed great feet to go in under the posts before the break.

The visitors took the lead for the first time when fullback Aphelele Fassi scored early in the second-half. The fullback, who was already having a standout game, went from try-scorer to general, claiming territory through launching pinpoint kicks.

Adding to worries off the field, the Sharks suffered another injury setback when flanker and Scotland international Dylan Richardson was forced off.

After exchanging the lead through penalties from both flyhalves, the Bulls stamped their authority by unleashing the bench, carving the visitors open through tries from Papier, Jacobs and Wessels.

Sharks No 8 Phepsi Buthelezi scored a consolation try for the visitors, but the Bulls’ bench boost had already done too much damage and Papier fittingly kicked the ball into touch to secure a 40-27 win for the hosts.

Photo: Twitter/@URCOfficial

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Rienk De Beer