Bulls comeback too late as Sharks triumph at Loftus following Steyn red card

Cape Town — The early loss of Morné Steyn proved to be too much of a hurdle to overcome for the Bulls as the Sharks held on for a 29-22 United Championship bonus-point victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Pretoria side never gave up, and had a number of try-scoring opportunities in the second half, but lacked the precision to round off until it was too late, as the Durbanites got back on track following a draw and a defeat to the Stormers.

Veteran flyhalf Steyn was shown a red card by referee AJ Jacobs for a late and dangerous tackle around the neck on Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am in the 11th minute. It was totally out of character for Steyn, who had a bit of a swinging arm as he got to grips with his former Springbok teammate.

The Bulls battled to recover immediately from the shock of losing Steyn, with the Sharks taking full advantage a minute later, with flank Henco Venter charging around from a lineout drive and brushing off Madosh Tambwe to score.

Steyn’s departure soon had an impact on the Bulls, with coach Jake White bringing on Chris Smith to call the shots at pivot and sacrificing centre Lionel Mapoe.

The Bulls forwards managed to get stuck into their more illustrious opponents at the end of the first quarter, and twice wasted scoring chances.

Bok captain Siya Kolisi created a try-saving turnover on the Sharks line, and soon after that, Phepsi Buthelezi forced a knock-on from Johan Grobbelaar as the Bulls hooker tried to stretch over the line.

The visitors’ Bok-laden pack gradually regained the upper hand in the physical exchanges, and it paid off for Am’s team as hooker Bongi Mbonambi stormed away from a maul to dot down in the 28th minute.

The game seemed to be over as a contest at 14-0 to the Sharks, and