Bulls come from behind in squeaker
Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:55
On the charge: Blue Bulls captain Derick Kuun
The Blue Bulls recovered from thirteen points behind to grind out a narrow 19-13 win over the Golden Lions in the opening round of the Currie Cup in Pretoria on Saturday, in a match dominated by poor kicking.
The Blue Bulls, usually renowned for their sound kicking game, looked totally out of sorts.
Their kicking - both out of hand and off the tee - was atrocious, with Burton Francis pulling two penalty attempts well wide of the target. Frans Ludeke responded by bringing Junior Springbok Francois Brummer on in place of Francis, only for Brummer to make a hash of an easy first attempt from in front of the poles.
The Lions attacking structure was impressive and the pace at which the players hit the ball was a constant threat to the Blue Bull defensive line. The Lions pack was far more physical than their opposing forwards and the direct, straight running approach of the men from Johannesburg was turning the match in their favour. The Bulls, by contrast, were sloppy and despite enjoying the majority of possession, their attack was static and easy to defend.
Kruger put over a 22nd minute penalty to make the score 13-0 in favour of the visitors, which it remained going into the half-time break.
The Blue Bulls would have been read the riot act in the changeroom after a lacklustre half, and they came out with greater urgency after the break. They started to attack with purpose and penetration and controlled the ball well.
The Lions were struggling to hold on as the Blue Bulls pushed, and the Pretoria side looked certain to score, only for Zane Kirchner to be denied by a miraculous tackle by Dusty Noble. The Lions wing somehow managed to manoeuvre himself under the new Springbok cap to deny what looked like an inevitable try.
But the desperate Lions defence could only hold out for so long, and it was Tiger Mangweni - on as a substitute for Wynand Olivier - who eventually broke through in the 48th minute for the homes side's opening score.
The kick went unconverted as Brummer continued to struggle, leaving his team eight points back with half an hour to play. The Blue Bulls dominated possession and territory and piled the pressure on their Northern neighbours. Unsurprisingly, Blue Bull skipper Derick Kuün had little faith in his goalkickers and turned down several kickable penalty attempts, rather opting to push for the try line.
The Blue Bulls attacked in waves and the pressure was beginning to tell on the Lions defenders, whose tackle count was soaring. Gerhard van den Heever showed his finishing prowess, diving over for a try on his Currie Cup debut after a patient assault on the Lions line.
The Lions, though, still held a slender 13-10 lead and defended bravely in the face of enormous pressure from Ludeke's men. But Brummer finally found his range, landing a 62nd minute penalty to level the scores.
But it seemed that as soon as the Blue Bulls found some kicking form, the Lions lost theirs, Kruger missing an easy chance after an early tackle on Noble by Francois Hougaard. All in all, it was a woeful display of goalkicking from both sides. In the end, the Blue Bulls were successful with three out of nine attempts at goal, while the Lions count was three from six.
Brummer did manage to land two penalties in the 70th and 80th minutes to earn his team a 19-13 win, but in the end, they should have won comfortably. The Lions were impressive in the first half, but didn't see any of the ball in the second half and the discrepancy in the possession stakes and tackle count proved decisive. The Lions made 113 tackles to the Blue Bulls 63, while only having 37 percent of the ball.
It was a low-quality game, which was dominated by poor kicking, but the Lions can take some heart out of their gutsy first half performance. They are a new team, with fresh faces in both the playing and coaching ranks and should improve as the season progresses.
The Blue Bulls will take the win, but know that they will have to put in a lot of hard work if they are to mount a serious title challenge.
Man of the match: It wasn't a game in which many players covered themselves in glory, but there were a few standouts. Heinie Adams had a typically busy outing, providing crisp service to a misfiring backline. For the Lions, the front row were impressive at the set-piece and Dusty Noble worked hard on the wing. But in the end, it was the physical presence and work-rate of Lions eighthman Willem Alberts, who despite being on the losing side, was the most impressive player on the park.
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Mangweni, Van den Heever
Pens: Brummer 3
For the Golden Lions:
Try: Alberts
Con: Kruger
Pens: Kruger 2
Yellow card: Robert Kruger (Lions - foul play, high tackle)
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 20 Francois Brummer, 21
Marius Delport, 22 Tiger Mangweni.
Golden Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Pieter Engelbrecht, 22 Michael Killian.
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
By Tim Human
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