Bulls find extra gear at wet Loftus to hand Sharks first Currie Cup loss

The rain fell heavily at Loftus, but that did not stop the Bulls and Sharks from delivering a highly entertaining Currie Cup clash on Wednesday night. 

In the end, a total of seven tries were scored - five for the Bulls and two for the Sharks - as the men from Pretoria ran out 35-21 winners. 

SCOREBOARD | Bulls 35-21 Sharks

The Sharks had their chances and missed several kicks at goal, while the Bulls were ultimately more clinical in the tight phases, on the ground and in the moments that mattered most and especially as the game entered its final quarter. 

It is the first time this season that the Sharks have tasted defeat, and they now slip down to third on the Currie Cup log as the Bulls move up to second. 

This was a match dominated by the forwards for large periods due to the testing conditions, but there was also some quality running rugby and a few very neat tries scored. 

The Bulls had a strong United Rugby Championship presence in their XV highlighted by the selection of Springbok great Morne Steyn at flyhalf, but it was the Sharks who rocked the hosts after just 90 seconds. 

The Sharks found themselves camped on the Bulls line, sucking in defenders before the ball was spread out left where centre Murray Koster was on hand to go over. 

Flyhalf Jordan Chait missed the conversion - he struggled off the tee all night - but the Sharks were still off to a near-perfect start. 

Their lead was short-lived, though, and the Bulls hit back on 10 minutes with a move that was ignited by a pinpoint Steyn cross-kick into space. From the resulting phases, a grubber was then stabbed down the left flank, where wing Madosh Tambwe finished calmly. 

Steyn slotted the conversion, and the hosts were 7-5 up. 

A Chait penalty then made it 8-7 to