Staff Reporter.
The Sharks scored a try in the final 10 minutes to earn a 19-9 Currie Cup semi-final victory over Western Province at Newlands.
This was the first contest played between these two sides after their Super Rugby Unlocked and Currie Cup round-robin matches were both called off due to Covid-19 protocols.
The result gave the Sharks entry to their third final in the last four Currie Cup tournaments, where they will face the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld next Saturday.
The game had special significance for Province, as it was potentially the last professional game to be played at Newlands. Unfortunately, they were unable to give their hallowed ground a winning send-off.
The game started in summer sunshine, was followed by wind squalls, then it started to rain before the end of the first half, and by the end there was an unseasonal winter chill in the air.
The Sharks got off to a solid start, despite not having any ball to speak of, as Curwin Bosch kicked three successive long-range penalties – two of them from his own half – to open up a 9-0 lead.
However, Province slowly started to work their way back into the match and created plenty of opportunities to score, but they turned down four kickable penalties in the first half, as they tried to maul it from the corners, but were well met by the Sharks, as Ruben van Heerden won two lineouts against the throw on his own tryline.
Province managed to get themselves on the board as they finally opted to kick at goal, with flyhalf Tim Swiel knocking a couple of penalties over to send them into the break trailing at 9-6.
The battle of the flyhalves continued as Swiel slotted his third penalty at the start of the second half to level the scores at 9-9, before Bosch kicked a drop goal to give the Sharks the lead again.
A crucial moment of the game came in the 70th minute as it seemed that Thembelani Bholi had scored a potential match winner from a maul. However, upon review TMO Stuart Berry spotted that lock JJ van der Mescht had obstructed a tackler in the process that Bholi had scored.
However, it mattered little as the Sharks won another penalty and worked their way to within inches of the Province tryline, with Van der Mescht atoning for his error by reaching over to score the winner.
The Durban team will go to Pretoria next week for a repeat of the famous 1990 Currie Cup final between Northern Transvaal and Natal and the coastal side, on the evidence of this game, will be as rank underdogs now as they were 30 years ago.
Cell C Sharks 19 – Try: JJ van der Merscht, Conversion: Curwin Bosch, Penalties: Curwin Bosch 3; Drop-goal: Curwin Bosch.
WP 9 – Penalties: Tim Swiel 3.