Lions maul limp Bulls
Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:20
The Golden Lions kept their Currie Cup hopes alive with an impressive 20-13 win over the Blue Bulls in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The two tries to one win left the Lions still languishing in sixth place on the standings, but they are certainly firmly back in the play-off race - which have become a bottleneck, with just eight points separating the top six teams.
The Bulls, who collected a losing bonus point with a last-minute penalty, remain in fourth on the standings.
What a great victory for the determined Golden Lions and it took 10 points in the last two minutes or so to get even a losing bonus point for the Blue Bulls. The Blue Bulls were well and truly beaten and seemed to have no answer for Cobus Grobbelaar and his men. (Did Grobbelaar set some kind of record for tackles in a match?)
So often the Golden Lions have been criticised for losing close matches by creating opportunities and failing to take them and then presenting opponents with soft opportunities which they take. This time there was steel in their backbones at Coca Cola Park.
Surprisingly it was the set pieces that served their cause so well. They scrummed well but it was in the line-outs that they latrhered the Blue Bulls. The Blue Bulls threw in to 19 line-outs and lost eight, whereas the Golden Lions lost only the last of their 16 throws. Line-outs were a key element in the Golden Lions' victory and much of the credit goes to the tall trees - Willem Stoltz, Nico Luus and François van der Merwe. Above all the line-outs nobbled the Blue Bulls.
The Golden Lions were never headed in the match. They started running first and ran most throughout the game - till the Blue Bulls felt the need to get something out of the match just before the end.
Though they ran, scoring was a niggardly affair in the first half. Till just before half-time only a single penalty was all there was to show for all the effort. Herkie Kruger goaled the penalty when the Golden Lions attacked and Marius Delport was offside. 3-0 after 17 minutes. This came after the Golden Lions had created an overlap for Dusty Noble and then went through many phases.
The Blue Bulls then had a period of attack which fizzled out with a poor dropped goal attempt by Burton Francis. New man Earl Lewis, who had a splendid debut for the Golden Lions, had a run down the left wing and then the Golden Lions looked certain to score when Jano Vermaak broke and Van der Merwe carried it on.,
Deon Stegmann was penalised and Vermaak tapped and the Golden Lions went left. Grobbelaar batted on a pressured pass to Alwyn Hollenbach who dummied Stegmann and Francis to waltz through for a try which Kruger converted. 10-0 at half-time.
The Golden Lions scored first in the second half, an unlikely try. Wilhelm Steenkamp caught the ball cleanly in the line-out but somehow Van der Merwe robbed him of it. The giant flank peeled round the front of the line-out and kicked downfield. As it happened the kick went into empty space with Vermaak haring after it. The ball bounced high, which was no trouble for the scrumhalf who grabbed it dived over for yet another try. Kruger converted. 17-0 after 43 minutes. The only other score by the Golden Lions in the match was 32 minutes later.
Lewis chipped but the Blue Bulls won a turnover and sent Stefan Watermeyer racing away but the Golden Lions managed to scurry in defence and Kruger cleared. The Blue Bulls went though phases and a tackle penalty gave Francis an easy kick. 17-3 after 56 minutes.
Francis footed a loose ball through but Noble saved. The Golden Lions attacked with vigour on the left with Vermaak and Johan Jackson prominent and then went wide but an awful skip pass by Kruger nullified an overlap opportunity.
Two penalties against Jacques Burger in quick succession at the tackle gave Kruger an easy pot at goal. 20-3 with five minutes to go.
The Blue Bulls scored twice in those five minutes. First they tapped a tackle penalty and Francis broke straight ahead. Heini Adams was up to give a great pass to Jaco Pretorius who cut through to score at the posts.
Back came the Blue Bulls and with time up Kruger was penalised for a high tackle in front of his posts. François Brummer goaled, the Blue Bulls had a bonus point, and the final whistle sounded.
Man of the Match: Cobus Grobbelaar and Jano Vermaak are candidates as they are week after week and there was also Earl Lewis, which suggested the House of Lions benefitted from switching Earl Rose for Earl Lewis, but our choice is Franco van der Merwe who ruled the vital line-outs and generally played with great energy and skill.
The scorers:
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Hollenbach, Vermaak
Cons: Kruger 2
Pens:
Kruger 2
For the Blue Bulls:
Try: Pretorius
Con: Francis
Pens: Francis, Brummer
Teams:
Golden Lions: 15 Earl Lewis, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Pieter Engelbrecht, 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 Todd Clever, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Doppies la Grange, 22 Ruan Boshoff.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Marius Delport, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Dewald Potgieter, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 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/Dean Greyling, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Jacques Burger, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Tiger Mangweni.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referee: François Veldsman, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
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