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Bulls book a home semifinal

Outscoring the home team by four tries to three in Nelspruit on Friday, the Bulls ensured they will finish the league stage of the season in second place – ahead of Western Province.

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The Bulls will host Province at Loftus Versfeld next week.

The Pumas started the match, in what was the swansong for many of their players moving on at the end of the season, with their tails up.

Strong defence and a mentality to run the ball by the Pumas put the Blue Bulls under the cosh.

Pumas flank Marnus Schoeman scored their first try when he spun out of a tackle to score.

The Blue Bulls struggled to find their feet because of a multitude of unforced errors.

The visitors eventually fired back with two tries through flank Deon Stegmann and wing Jamba Ulengo.

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Bulls book a home semifinalStegmann, who was denied a try in the opening minutes, made no mistake as he scored off the back of a strong maul.

The Blue Bulls used their line-out to great effect throughout the match with their mauls allowing them to make good inroads on attack.

Ulengo collected scrumhalf Francois Hougaard's pass after fullback Warrick Gelant broke away deep in Blue Bulls territory and sidestepped two defenders before passing to Hougaard.

Flyhalf Tian Schoeman was unable to convert both tries.

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His kicking form will be of concern going into the semi-final as he only managed to convert two of his attempts.

The Pumas showed great phases of play but were unable to make use of their opportunities. Flyhalf Justin van Staden had a chance to level the scores, but missed in front of the posts.

The Blue Bulls were forced to tighten up on defence after Stegmann received a yellow card for deliberately killing the ball at a ruck.

The Pumas found themselves protecting their tryline in the dying moments of the first half, but gave away a penalty which Schoeman duly converted to give the Blue Bulls a 13-7 lead at the break.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first with the Pumas attacking at will.

Van Staden was on target with a penalty before Stegmann scored his second of the match.

Pumas wing Rosko Specman ran a brilliant line to score untouched moments after Ulengo crossed in the corner for his second try. Both van Staden and Schoeman converted their efforts.

The Pumas continued to run at the Blue Bulls but their efforts came to nought through handling errors and dogged defence. They failed to capitalise on their scrum dominance which continues to plague the Pretoria outfit.

The Pumas had the final say of the match when prop Rudi Mathee barged over for a try. Van Staden converted, but it was not enough as the Blue Bulls walked away 25-24 victors.

Man of the match:  Rosco Speckman made good use of the few opportunities he had. Francois de Klerk also showed his value. Marnus Schoeman and Vincent Koch were the Pumas' most productive forwards. Warwick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel and Jamba Ulengo were always a threat with ball in hand. Tian Schoeman had a decent game with ball in hand, but his goal-kicking let him down badly. Arno Botha was busy and Deon Stegmann probably pushed the envelope a bit too far at times. Our award goes to Bulls captain Pieter Labuschagne, for his immense workrate.

The scorers:

For the Pumas:

Tries: Schoeman, Speckman, Mathee

Cons: Van Staden 2, Skorbinski

Pen: Van Staden

For the Blue Bulls:

Tries: Stegmann 2, Ulengo 2

Con: Schoeman

Pen: Schoeman

Yellow card: Deon Stegmann (Blue Bulls, 33- repeated infringements, killing the ball in the ruck/tackle)

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Hoffmann Maritz, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Rudi Mathee, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Corné Fourie.

Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanché, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Dylan Petersen, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Hennie Skorbinski, 22 Wilmaure Louw.

Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rudolph Snyman, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Pierre Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Jason Jenkins, 19 Ruan Steenkamp, 20 Ivan van Zyl, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 William Small-Smith.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge

Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Jaco Pretorius

TMO: Willie Vos

Bulls book a home semifinal

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