Steyn boots Bulls to thrilling win over Sharks

DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) –

Morne Steyn of the Bulls kicks in Canberra on March 30, 2013. Steyn became the leading Super 15 points scorer this season by kicking six penalties as Northern Bulls edged Coastal Sharks 18-16 in a thriller Saturday.

Morne Steyn became the leading Super 15 points scorer this season by kicking six penalties as Northern Bulls edged Coastal Sharks 18-16 in a thriller Saturday.

The experienced Bulls fly-half came face to face with Patrick Lambie, the younger Sharks playmaker who replaced him in the Springboks team last season.

And Steyn won the individual goal-kicking battle by seven points with Lambie landing three penalties and converting a try from scrum-half Charl McLeod.

Steyn has scored two tries, converted 21, and kicked 42 penalties and a drop goal for a 181-point haul — 18 more than Gareth Anscombe from title-holders Waikato Chiefs of New Zealand.

Lambie lies fourth with 150 points, but that will be little consolation after a defeat at hyper-humid Kings Park that cost the 2012 runners-up any chance of a place in the knockout stages.

The outfit from Indian Ocean city Durban have 34 points, eight less than record seven-time champions Canterbury Crusaders of New Zealand, who occupy the last play-offs place.

Victory for the Bulls allowed them to reclaim second place on the combined standings, which they lost earlier Saturday when the Australian Brumbies won at the Auckland Blues.

The Bulls are ahead of the Brumbies because they have won a match more this season and both trail the Chiefs by two points entering the closing stages of the league phase.

“A slippery ball made it difficult for us and our game plan was to play for territory, force penalties and leave the rest to Morne,” admitted Bulls No.8 and skipper Pierre Spies.

“We played well and lost — I would rather we played badly and won. This was a bitter defeat and we conceded far too many turnovers,” said Sharks loose forward and captain Keegan Daniel.

Bulls led 9-3 at half-time in a match where there was never more than six points between the teams and a tense finish saw the lead change twice before a large crowd.

After going ahead early on, the Sharks trailed for a long period until McLeod went over for the only try through a blindside break off a five-metre scrum seven minutes from time.

But official man-of-the-match Steyn had the final say as prop ‘Beast’ Mtawarira was penalised for his tackle on lock Flip van der Merwe and Steyn banged the penalty between the posts.

Mtawarira and Van der Merwe had been key figures in the forward exchanges with the Sharks excelling at scrum-time and the Bulls winning the duel for lineout supremacy.

Bulls scrum-half Jano Vermaak came on for Francois Hougaard after 66 minutes to complete 100 Super Rugby appearances playing for the now-defunct Cats, Golden Lions and Bulls.