Hougaard the hero for Bulls
Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:03
Loftus darling: Derick Hougaard scored 21 points
The Bulls got their Super 14 season back on track with a highly entertaining 31-17 victory over the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Friday , with 21 points coming from the boot of Derick Hougaard.
It was drama galore in Pretoria.
Tempers flaired - their was a yellow card, a red card and plenty of tries to keep the Loftus faithful on the edge of their seats.
The Bulls were always in front on the scoreboard, but were made to sweat by a valiant Lions team who refused to surrender.
It was a typical derby between two teams desperate for a win.
There was plenty of passion that tended to spill over on occasions, with both sides being guilty of off the ball scuffles.
But lets focus on the rugby.
The Bulls had the better of the early exchanges, showing a willingness to give the ball some air.
They showed their intent with some good, running rugby but were unable to capitilise on the territory and possession that they had.
The scrums were a mess throughout, with plenty of reset scrums resulting in referee JC Fortuin dishing out free-kicks at will.
The Bulls were rewarded for their early pressure when Derick Hougaard landed a penalty.
3-0 to the Bulls.
Soon after he had another chance to extend the lead after No.14 Dusty Noble ignored the referee's calls for him to stop chasing a kick up field. The referee could be clearly heard shouting at Noble to stop but he disregarded the screaming Fortuin and paid the price.
Hougaard duly added the three points with a long range penalty.
The first try of the game was not far away.
After a Hougaard up-and-under, in which Habana chased hard, the Bulls recycled the ball quickly.
Great hands from the Bulls backline put No.14 Akona Ndungane in for the try in the right hand corner.
It was encouraging stuff from the Bulls, who have looked dull in their previous encounters. They attacked the rucks with intensity, allowing quick ball to their backs, who, in the process looked more threatening.
A few minutes later, Pretoria's 'liefling', Derick Hougaard stamped his authority on the game when he slotted a drop-goal.
That took the score out to 14-0, with the Bulls completely dominated their neighbours.
Soon it was 17-0, that man Hougaard adding the three points after a Lions infringement.
In that same phase of play Bakkies Botha seemed to go in the ruck with his head, connecting with Lions hooker Willie Wepener.
Botha could be in trouble with the citing commission for that.
Drama was to follow soon after, when Bulls fullback Zane Kirchner was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Dusty Noble, who didn't even have the ball.
It was senseless stuff from the rookie fullback, who had no reason at all to carry out the tackle.
If that wasn't enough, Bakkies Botha was also yellow-carded for his second suspicious clean-out in as many minutes.
This all in the same movement - the Loftus Versfeld crowd stunned into silence.
The Bulls' disciplinary record has been woeful so far this season, and it looks like they will be without Kirchner, and possibly Botha for their overseas leg.
The Lions made them pay almost immediately when flying wing, Dusty Noble avoided a Bryan Habana tackle to round off a well-worked try.
Louis Strydom failed to add the conversion.
However, Hougaard restored order for the Bulls when he made it 20-5 with a brilliant long range penalty from within his own half.
The No.10 was making the Lions pay for every indiscretion.
Then on the stroke of half-time, the Bulls extended their lead, Akona Ndungane crossing the line for the second time.
Hougaard, yes that man again, floated a beautifully weighted pass over the Lions defenders to set Ndungane free.
The result being a 25-5 half-time lead for the home team.
What a pulsating first half it was - three tries, a drop-goal, four penalties, a yellow card and a red card!
Phew!
Early in the second half Bakkies Botha had the opportunity to seal the deal.
He had an open try-line in front of him, but somehow managed to drop a misguided throw from Willie Wepener, that landed in his lap.
All he had to do was collect the throw and trot four metres to score. The big Springbok lock had a rather disappointing return to competitive rugby after a long injury-enforced break.
It was the Lions who got the first points of the second half, No.9 Jano Vermaak diving over from close range after taking a quick tap off a free-kick.
That made it 25-10 with all to play for.
The Lions were well and truly back in the contest when Ryno Benjamin scored under the poles after brilliant work from No.13 Jaco Pretorius. He gathered a chip kick and evaded several defenders, before being dragged down metres from the Bulls try-line. The ball was recycled quickly for Benjamin to score.
Jano Vermaak slotted the easy conversion to reduce the deficit to eight point.
The Bulls struck back soon after with another Hougaard penalty, giving the home side some breathing space at 28-17.
Then, moments later the Bulls were awarded another penalty in a kickable position.
The kicking machine Hougaard extended his personal tally to 21 points with a sweetly struck penalty.
31-17 with 17 minutes remaining eased the pressure on the Bulls somewhat.
That is how it remained, the Lions throwing everything at the Bulls in the final rights but were unable to make an impression.
Derick Hougaard was the difference between the two sides. He controlled matters to perfection and totally outplayed his counterpart, Louis Strydom.
Man of the match: A no brainer! Derick Hougaard was superb. He did everything
expected of him on the day. And more.
Moment of the match: The opening try of the match. The Bulls displayed some slick hands to allow Akona Ndungane to score in the corner. Steyn, Olivier and Kirchner were all prominent.
Villain of the match: Zane Kirchner for his ridiculous tackle on Dusty Noble in which he was red-carded. Bakkies Botha comes a close second!
The Scorers:
For the Bulls:
Tries: Ndungane 2
Pens: Hougaard 6
Drop-goal: Hougaard
For the Lions:
Tries: Noble, Vermaak, Benjamin
Con: Vermaak
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Morné Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6
Danie Rossouw, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Rayno Gerber, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 James vd Walt, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Dean Greyling, 19 Deon Stegmann, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Stephan Dippenaar, 22 Dewald Potgieter.
Auto & General Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Ernst Joubert (captain), 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Gerhard Mostert, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Rudi Vogt, 22 Jannie Boshoff.
Referee: JC Fortuin (South Africa)
Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun
Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Banks Yantolo (South Africa)
