Bulls maul ill-disciplined Griquas
Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:40
Clearing the lines: Griquas scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius kicks - Pic: Rian Botes
The Blue Bulls recorded a valuable 61-27 bonus-point victory over Griquas in their Currie Cup encounter in Pretoria on Saturday, an entertaining game that produced 12 tries.
The win ensured the Bulls have qualified for the play-offs, as they moved ahead of Griquas into third place on the standings, and kept alive their slim hopes of home-ground advantage in the semifinals.
However, it is a game that was marked by two very costly errors by Griquas - yellow cards to captain Jonathan Mokuena and flank Rohan Kitshoff - which allowed the Bulls to put daylight between the two sides.
On both occasions the Bulls scored 17 points, 34 points in the 20 minutes that Griquas were a man short, which in the end proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Credit must also go to Griquas who, despite having lost touch with the Bulls on the scoreboard in the second half, kept on plugging away and in the end got a valuable bonus point of their own - for scoring four tries - that keeps them in the play-off hunt.
The men from Kimberley now need two bonus points from their ;last game, against the Sharks in Kimberley next week, to edge the Free State Cheetahs in the race for play-off places.
It was indeed a vital score, after the hooter for full-time had already sounded, that may well see Griquas sneak into the semifinals.
The Bulls' play varied between very good and sloppy.
There were too many loose passes, too many knock-ons and too many wrong decisions. Had they put their passes together, especially early on, they would have had their bonus point try well before the 45th minute.
The home side easily disrupted Griquas' line-outs and their scrummaging, like their general play, was up and down. But on the whole, the Blue Bulls have enough to be happy about and had a good workout in the run-in to the playoffs. It's now about doing those few little refinements.
The raging Bulls showed their intent to run riot from the first second and before the spectators had settled into their seats the home side was leading 7-0 - thanks to some superb backline play, combined with a great individual effort by fullback Zane Kirchner.
Kirchner scored after he gathered his own chip kick, but two minutes later the visitors' scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius opened their account with a splendid try of his, own after he capitalized from a quick tap penalty on the five-metre line.
In the 12th minute blindside flank Devon Raubenheimer doubled the Griquas' score with another try and at this stage of the match, with the visitors leading 10-7, all was not well with the Bulls' scrum and line-out play.
Things turned the way of the Bulls in the 23rd minute when the captain of the Griquas, Jonathan Mokuena, received a yellow card for a professional foul committed at a ruck.
With Mokuena watching the game from the sideline it wasn't long before Danie Rossouw, who was playing his heart out, scored the Bulls' second and 12 minutes before half-time Morné Steyn was over in the left hand corner owing to marvelous interplay between Derick Kuün, Dewald Potgieter, Bryan Habana and Wynand Olivier.
Steyn's try has taken the team's tally to 21 points and with the Bulls firing on all cylinders, the Bok flyhalf added two more penalties in the latter parts of the first half to take Frans Ludeke's men into a well-earned 27-13 lead at the break.
Pierre Spies secured the Bulls' bonus point in the 45th minute and with Rohan Kitshoff conceding a yellow card a few minutes later Victor Matfield and his troops gathered 14 more points via tries by Habana and Steyn to make the score 49-20.
The Bulls played some outstanding rugby in the last 40 minutes and it was nice to see that Ludeke gave all his substitutes game time.
Rossouw de Klerk and Bandise Maku did well when they replaced Werner Kruger and Kuün, while Francois Brummer showed that he has all the potential to do what Steyn did in 2009.
In the last couple of minutes tries by Maku and another from Habana followed and apart from the eight super tries, the best thing about the victory was that the Bulls picked up the necessary momentum for the last four weeks of the Currie Cup.
Man of the Match: There were many influential players in the Blue Bulls team - with the return of a number of Springboks making a real difference. There was the ability of Wynand Olivier to break the line, the magic of Bryan Habana, including a classic intercept, and the control of Morné Steyn among the backs. Pierre Spies's physical presence was there for all to see, Victor Matfield and Danie Rossouw were a formidable second row combination, with Rossouw also providing some extra muscle. But our award goes to the Bulls' Emerging Springbok captain Dewald Potgieter, playing at the flank, and showing that he would not be out of place in a Bok team.
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Kirchner, Rossouw, Steyn 2, Spies, Habana 2, Maku
Cons: Steyn 5, Brummer
Pens: Steyn 3
For Griquas:
Tries: Pretorius, Raubenheimer, Geel, Olivier
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier
Yellow cards: Jonathan Mokuena (Griquas, 23 - professional foul, tripping), Rohan Kitshoff (Griquas, 53 - foul play, stiff-arm tackle)
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:
16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Francois Brummer, 21 John Mametsa, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Dries Kruger, 17 Andre Schlechter, 18 Brendon Snyman, 19 Wesley Wilkens, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Gavin Passens.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Michael Cupido
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