A glance at the 29-15 scoreline suggests that Sharks coach Dick Muir's plan worked a treat against the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday night, but the Sharks left it dangerously late before securing an important win against the Super 14 champions.
Muir, on the eve of the game, told The Witness that he thought his reserve bench would carry too much firepower for the Bulls in the closing stages. And so it proved, but even he had his doubts when the Sharks trailed 10-15 with just eight minutes remaining.
Muir said: "I was worried,but in a way it was probably a good thing that we were five behind needing to score a goal to win.
"It changed the mind-set of our players and made them more attacking. They responded superbly."
Indeed they did, running in three tries - to seal a bonus point - in eight minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a 14-point win.
It was an extraordinary turnaround. The Bulls had their chances to close out the game with three tries lost through poor finishing.
In contrast, and when the chances came late in both halves, the Sharks' pace and enterprise brought tries for wing Odwa Ndungane, flyhalf Frederic Michalak and the two flanks, Keegan Daniel and substitute Jacques Botes.
It was the introduction of the replacements, Adrian Jacobs, Botes, Craig Burden, Stefan Terblanche and Albert van den Berg, which brought energy and ambition to the Sharks' attacks.
Critically, though, they were helped by the yellow-card which was handed to JP Nel by referee Mark Lawrence for a spear-tackle on Frans Steyn well after he had passed the ball.
Nel was off for 10 of the last 12 minutes and while he was brooding in the cooler, the Sharks scored three tries.
Muir was back in familiar territory after the win, mightily relived, delighted with the log points, but unhappy with the quality of the rugby played by the Sharks.
"It was a brilliant win. It's not easy going to Loftus and I'm chuffed to come away with a win and a bonus point. But for an hour we did not exactly cover ourselves with glory and that's a worry."
'Suddenly we were back playing with a wet ball'
Muir said that the Sharks had planned and plotted to play "proper, expansive rugby" at Loftus.
"We wanted to express ourselves with ball in hand. But the heavy rain during the warm-up changed everything and suddenly we were back playing with a wet ball.
"We had to change our tactical approach and I think that threw us. Perhaps we were too defensive and it was only in the final quarter that we started to play the way we can."
Muir said he was proud of the way the players had responded, both to the physical challenge and the pressure in the closing minutes.
"We knew the Bulls would try and soften us up, but the players stood up well and then they had the character to score those 19 points in eight minutes at the end."
The Sharks coach said that both tighthead Jannie du Plessis and centre Brad Barritt had taken hard knocks. Their fitness would be assessed this week ahead of the top-of-the-log clash against the Blues on Saturday night.
Muir, on the eve of the game, told The Witness that he thought his reserve bench would carry too much firepower for the Bulls in the closing stages. And so it proved, but even he had his doubts when the Sharks trailed 10-15 with just eight minutes remaining.
Muir said: "I was worried,but in a way it was probably a good thing that we were five behind needing to score a goal to win.
"It changed the mind-set of our players and made them more attacking. They responded superbly."
Indeed they did, running in three tries - to seal a bonus point - in eight minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a 14-point win.
It was an extraordinary turnaround. The Bulls had their chances to close out the game with three tries lost through poor finishing.
In contrast, and when the chances came late in both halves, the Sharks' pace and enterprise brought tries for wing Odwa Ndungane, flyhalf Frederic Michalak and the two flanks, Keegan Daniel and substitute Jacques Botes.
It was the introduction of the replacements, Adrian Jacobs, Botes, Craig Burden, Stefan Terblanche and Albert van den Berg, which brought energy and ambition to the Sharks' attacks.
Critically, though, they were helped by the yellow-card which was handed to JP Nel by referee Mark Lawrence for a spear-tackle on Frans Steyn well after he had passed the ball.
Nel was off for 10 of the last 12 minutes and while he was brooding in the cooler, the Sharks scored three tries.
Muir was back in familiar territory after the win, mightily relived, delighted with the log points, but unhappy with the quality of the rugby played by the Sharks.
"It was a brilliant win. It's not easy going to Loftus and I'm chuffed to come away with a win and a bonus point. But for an hour we did not exactly cover ourselves with glory and that's a worry."
'Suddenly we were back playing with a wet ball'
Muir said that the Sharks had planned and plotted to play "proper, expansive rugby" at Loftus.
"We wanted to express ourselves with ball in hand. But the heavy rain during the warm-up changed everything and suddenly we were back playing with a wet ball.
"We had to change our tactical approach and I think that threw us. Perhaps we were too defensive and it was only in the final quarter that we started to play the way we can."
Muir said he was proud of the way the players had responded, both to the physical challenge and the pressure in the closing minutes.
"We knew the Bulls would try and soften us up, but the players stood up well and then they had the character to score those 19 points in eight minutes at the end."
The Sharks coach said that both tighthead Jannie du Plessis and centre Brad Barritt had taken hard knocks. Their fitness would be assessed this week ahead of the top-of-the-log clash against the Blues on Saturday night.
The win enabled veteran Sharks lock Johan Ackermann to end his career on a high. The evening did not start well as referee Lawrence, who had a busy but impressive night controlling two fired-up teams, yellow-carded him after just a minute for throwing a punch.
But he played his part in a Sharks pack which stood up well to the Bulls and made the heroic late flurry possible.
Muir paid tribute to Daniel, a small but explosive flank.
"He has all the skills but we we needed to know whether he was tough enough to play at this level. I think he showed that he is."
The man-of-the-match award went to Daniel but it should have gone to JP Nel who turned both the match and Steyn on their heads. The Sharks should have carried the Bulls centre from the field.
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