In the end the competitive instincts of players knowing they were up against arch-rivals conspired to produce an absorbing, dramatic and tense Carling Currie Cup semifinal in Pretoria, and down road in Johannesburg in the earlier game a try fest delivered the anticipated spectacle.
The upshot is that the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV will travel to Emirates Airlines Park to face the Fidelity ADT Lions in a match up sequence in the domestic decider that started when Natal edged out Transvaal by one point in Johannesburg in 1992.
Well it turns out on this occasion someone like Andre Esterhuizen does, because he had to, and his coach John Plumtree quite understandably didn’t quite know what to think about that afterwards. “There was a lot of talk on the touchlines and there wasn’t any clarity so we phoned the referee in Durban who advises us and he informed us that we could replace the red carded player. We don’t blame the referee but the officials on the sideline need to be better than that.”
“The reward for losing today would have been a week and time for us to prepare for our URC tour. We leave for our first game against Connacht in Galway on the Monday after the final,” said Plumtree.
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