The Sharks were 30 seconds from victory, but an epic try in an epic final where the Bulls swept from end to end in desperation gave Habana the score that mattered and his side a chance to win the trophy they had always wanted.

Habana's score deep into injury time came just three minutes after Albert van den Berg scored a dubious try - from replays on the television it looked short - and had seemingly assured the Sharks of victory.

Van der Berg drove over and referee Steve Walsh gave the try and things looked over for the Bulls, who cut left then right to run the length of the field and score.

Fly-half Derick Hougaard added the pressure conversion afterwards to seal the win, but the epic nature of Habana's try was worthy of a final of such stature.

The final was the perfect end to a competition where South African rugby showed all that was positive about the sport and delivered 80 minutes of slugfest rugby.

In a high pressure start, the Sharks were first on the board with a penalty through Percy Montgomery, but it was the Bulls who crossed the tryline first as a rumble up to the line saw Victor Matfield slip a short pass to Pierre Spies to score the first try.

The Sharks struck back after 15 minutes as try scoring sensation JP Pietersen intercepted a poor pass from Spies to run 50 metres and score.

Montgomery added a penalty on the half-hour mark but a minute later Derick Hougaard pulled the difference back to one point.

It soon became evident that the initial thoughts of open flowing rugby would be replaced by a hard forward grind, as neither side gave an inch.

Montgomery added another penalty to take the Sharks out to 14-10 but early in the second half it was Hougaard who kept the tension in the game and allowed the Bulls to take it down the wire.

But when Van den Berg scored at the end, after a series of line drives from the Sharks close to the line, the Bulls' protests fell on deaf ears and Kings Park started celebrating.

That was before Habana, and the Bulls had their final say.