Bulls burn Griquas in Kimberley
The win sees the Bulls maintain their unbeaten run this year, although they are second on the standings just behind the Golden Lions on points difference while the Griquas are still looking for their first win of the season.
The home side made a bright start to the game, with a stolen line-out and break seeing them storm into the 22 early on, and the Bulls went offside which saw Ntabeni Dukisa open the scoring with an early penalty.
They kept the pressure on as a counter-attack saw them deep in opposition territory once more where Bulls skipper Pieter Labuschagne was shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement.
Griquas took advantage straight away as the ball was worked wide to Dukisa who skipped over in the corner, although he was unable to convert his own try from the touchline with the strong wind getting hold of the ball.
They stretched that lead with another Dukisa penalty after they had demolished the seven-man Bulls scrum, but the visitors managed to open their account shortly after Labuschagne entered the fray with Tian Schoeman slotting a penalty to cut Griquas' lead to 11-3.
The Bulls built some serious momentum and capitalised with their first try from wing Travis Ismaiel who ran a great line on the inside to score under the poles.
They followed that up with another soon afterwards as Jamba Ulengo crashed over after a strong run from Dries Swanepoel, and the easy conversion from Schoeman saw them take the lead for the first time at 17-11.
Swanepoel scored two tries of his own just before half-time as the Bulls took complete control and wrapped up the bonus point with a 31-11 lead at the break.
Griquas made a determined start to the second half as they looked to fight their way back into the game and they were rewarded as replacement Carel Greeff crashed over after a big scrum in the corner.
The Bulls responded with a penalty from Schoeman, but Griquas continued to chip away at the lead as hooker AJ le Roux charged over for their third try.
The Bulls managed to give themselves a bit of breathing space with 20 minutes left to play as Ulengo got over for his second try which took their lead out to 41-25.
Griquas were gunning for the bonus point, and they got it when Riaan Viljoen forced his way over with eight minutes left to secure their first log point of the season.
Griquas suffered a late blow as Hilton Lobberts was shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement and the Bulls had the final say as Louis Fouche skipped over for a late try.
Man of the match: Tian Schoeman was impressive and Jamba Ulengo scored two tries but the best player on the pitch was powerful Bulls outside centre Dries Swanepoel.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Dukisa, Greeff, Le Roux, Viljoen
Cons: Dukisa, Swart 2
Pens: Dukisa 2
For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Ismaiel, Ulengo 2, Swanepoel 2, Fouche
Cons: Schoeman 5
Pens: Schoeman 2
Yellow cards: Pieter Labuschagne (Blue Bulls, 8 – Offside, professional foul), Hilton Lobberts (Griquas, 76 – Offside, professional foul)
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Sandile Ngcobo, 13 Michael Van Der Spuy, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ntabeni Dukisa, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 RJ Liebenberg, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Luxolo Koza, 18 Hilton Lobberts, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Rudi Van Rooyen, 21 Jonathan Francke, 22 Ruhan Nel
Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Rudolph Snyman, 19 Nick de Jager, 20 André Warner, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Dan Kriel.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Jaco Kotze
TMO: JJ Wagner
