Durban — Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche summed up his team's emotional Currie Cup victory on Saturday night saying it may have taken 12 daunting years to get their name engraved on the trophy, but the wait was worth it.

It was a dazzling display of skill and patience combined with a clever game plan that earned the Sharks a 14-9 victory against the Blue Bulls in a thrilling clash in Durban at the weekend and ended their frustrating Currie Cup drought.

For coach John Plumtree and his team the victory not only buried their " chokers tag" for good, it also boosted their morale and confidence with an eye on next year's Super 14.

The win also settled the score with the Bulls, who robbed the Sharks of the Super 14 crown last year thanks to a magnificent try by Springbok wing Bryan Habana.

The Sharks played the perfect game in the first half, starving the Bulls of possession, which forced the visitors onto the back foot, and despite the soaking rain early on Saturday, they spread the ball at will and poked at the Bulls defence constantly in the second half.

This was supported by a brilliant team effort and a few superb individual performances by halfbacks, scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar and flyhalf Frederic Michalak, and inside centre Frans Steyn.

The Bulls, meanwhile, were left counting the cost of missed chances. Failure to round off what would have been a stunning intercept try for Habana in the 20th minute of the game, flyhalf Morne Steyn's long-range penalty early in the second half that hit the upright, and the Bulls turning over possession in the final scrum of the game will haunt the visitors for the next year.

Plumtree was ecstatic after the game and praised his team for grinding it out until the final whistle. "Everyone needed this win to restore our confidence and get the bogey off our backs of mishaps in finals....

"I said the team that wins will have to go the distance and not lie down, and we did exactly that, " he said.

After experiencing the heartbreak of the Super 14 final defeat last year, Plumtree joked that he would have cracked if they had had to relive the experience in the Currie Cup final.

"If we had lost this game, I would have hung a rope from the grandstand or I would have given up," he said.

Sharks lock and captain Johann Muller said while he was cautiously optimistic throughout the game that his team would win the silverware, there were a few flashbacks to last year's Super 14 final in the dying minutes of the clash.

"It did cross my mind that we could lose when Frans missed the penalty shortly before the hooter sounded and when the Bulls turned our last scrum," said Muller.

"But we played well in the first half and our defence was excellent in the second half.

"The only time the Bulls looked as though they would score was when Bryan intercepted the ball ... it didn't feel as though we were going to lose the game."

Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke and captain Victor Matfield were gracious in defeat and lauded Plumtree and his men for sticking to their guns until the end of the game.

"The Sharks pushed hard and they just kept on going," said Matfield.

"We had our chances and we didn't use them, so congratulations to the Sharks.

"We battled to get the ball into their half and to create opportunities there.

"They played well and they deserved to win."

Ludeke said the Bulls were forced to play catch-up rugby for the most of the game, which did not assist their cause.

However, the coach predicted a bright future for his talented team.

"It was good to see the guys getting stuck in every week and playing their hearts out. I am very proud of them, " he said.