Johannesburg — SEVERAL years of success in the Currie Cup could come to an embarrassing end for the Blue Bulls in the next few weeks unless their Springbok players drive the side back to their winning ways.

In an action-packed weekend, the Blue Bulls plunged out of the top four on the log, while the Cheetahs clawed their way to their sixth back-to-back win for a top- four spot.

In a gripping match in Bloemfontein the Cheetahs staged a dramatic fightback against Western Province for a last-minute 33-31 win, which meant the Bulls had to beat the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld to retain their top-four place .

But with the Sharks in burning form thanks mainly to flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez and a brave defensive effort by the side, the Bulls had to settle for a bonus point in going down 29-23.

The Sharks came out firing in the first half and created several point-scoring opportunities. But a gallant effort by the Bulls' looseforwards and a desperate defensive effort allround restricted them to two penalties.

The Sharks maintained their high standards in the second half and shocked the Bulls with two tries in the first 10 minutes, which proved to be enough to shut them out for the rest of the match.

While the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, he admitted the vast improvement in their scrums and lineouts were positives they could take from the match.

Plumtree praised his players, particularly Hernandez for stepping up and dictating play in such an important game.

"We were expecting a bit more from Juan before the game, so it was good to see him play so well," said Plumtree. "He is still trying to find his way with us because he is used to a different style of rugby. But he did well as a running threat and his kicking was good."

Despite being in a comfortable position to earn a home semifinal, he adopted a cautious approach to the next few weeks. "We would have been happy with a top-four spot before the Boks returned, so to be at No1 is great," he said. "But we have been in a good position before in the Super 14 and we bombed, so it is important to manage the return of the Boks . "

Ludeke echoed his sentiments , especially since the Bulls have to win their remaining games and rely on slip-ups by other teams for a semifinal berth.

"The Sharks played well, they deserved to win," said Ludeke. "We made mistakes from broken play and found ourselves under pressure in our half, which cost us. We also didn't create enough chances. But there's still a lot of rugby to be played. We have four games left and winning is non- negotiable to make the playoffs. But hopefully all our Boks will be back in the next week or two."

Given the shortage of quality front-row staff at the Sharks, Bok props Tendai Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis and hooker John Smit could be back in the squad this week, with lock Johann Muller also set to return after carrying tackle bags on tour.

Ludeke, meanwhile, hopes to call on prop Gurthrö Steenkamp, hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and utility forward Danie Rossouw , while the players who have started all the Tri-Nations Tests will be given the week off to rest.

Province coach Allister Coetzee was bitterly disappointed with his team's defeat in the dying seconds, especially after bombarding the Cheetahs with quality rugby in the first half for a 26-14 lead.

While the Cheetahs did well to string together phases and get into Province's half, they seemed content to settle for penalty kicks rather than tries in the first half.

In stark contrast, Province converted almost all their chances into tries in that period. But an admirable second-half display allowed the Cheetahs to bounce back spectacularly.

"It is extremely disappointing to go down at the end, especially if you consider that we scored four tries in the first half and got our bonus point so early," Coetzee said on Province's website. "But some decisions on the field didn't go our way and I think we lost a bit of rhythm in the second half."

In Friday's games, Griquas beat Boland 31-23 and the Lions thrashed the Leopards 31-13.