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Bulls trample new-look Lions

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:42

Star performer: Loose forward Pedrie Wannenburg

The defending champion Bulls gave new Lions coach Dick Muir a timely reality check when they trampled his team, scoring a comprehensive 42-12 win in their pre-season outing at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, on Saturday.

In the earlier match between the two franchises' back-up selection the Bulls also won comfortably, 25-3.

With both sides taking the ball wide from the outset, the Bulls' Blue team - in effect their A-side - outscored a plucky Lions Red team by five tries to two.

While the Lions were not totally outplayed, despite the scoreline, the Bulls were undoubtedly good value for their win.

The Lions made a real match of it despite never leading - and more importantly, there was plenty for their Director of Coaching, Dick Muir, and his  assistants to work from as a base for this season.

Two of the Bulls' five tries came in the dying minutes and the Lions were denied on three occasions when they squandered tries through poor handling.

The Lions will also be keen to point out that they spread their available talent across both team and did not field their strongest selection in the main match.

Muir will probably look to some of the individual performances for his positives.

They scrummed well, were competitive at the breakdown and the backs displayed some good skills, with Emerging Springbok Deon van Rensburg's pass to set Wandile Mjekevu free for his try probably the individual highlight of the game - and that's taking into account the cross kick by the Bulls' Morné Steyn after a quickly taken penalty that ended with John Mametsa scoring.

American Eagles import Todd Clever gave his all at No.8 and may just have solved the problem of Willem Alberts' availability for the foreseeable future as a battle  over his contract is waged with the Sharks.

But as good as Clever was, Pedrie Wannenburg was equally impressive for the Bulls.

He set up a try, had a hand in another and linked throughout until he was replaced in the last 10 minutes.

Derick Kuün showed how well he can play on the flank - and generally the teamwork from the Bulls, even with seven Springboks not considered for various reasons, was simply too good for a Lions side that showed promise, but will have to find their feet within the next two weeks.

* In the early match between the two franchises, the Bulls' B-side, playing as the White team, scored three tries in a dreary affair which they won 25-3 against a mix-and-match Lions side.

The first half was uninteresting and mistakes abounded. After the break the quality of rugby was a little better, but it remained a disjointed affair.

The early game lacked structure. It was more obvious on the Lions side with a number of newcomers to their squad trying to find one another while the Bulls' unity from playing in the same structure last year made a difference to their cohesion.

There were nevertheless some good individual performances on both sides with double try-scorer Devin Oosthuizen and Dries van Schalkwyk catching the eye, while Jonathan Mokuena of the Lions was probably the outstanding player in the match, with Chris Jonck also doing good work behind the scrum.

Scorers and teams:

16.00 kick-off:

Bulls White 25-3 Lions Black:

Scorers:

Bulls White:
Tries: Oosthuizen 2, Willies
Cons: Brummer, Boshoff
Pens: Brummer 2

Lions Black:
Pen: Francis

Teams:

Bulls White team: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Sampie Masriet, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 CJ Stander, 6 Okkie Kruger 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp (captain), 4 Fudge Mabeta, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements - from: Henri Bantjes, Dean Greyling, Cornell Hess, Devin Oosthuizen, Danie Faasen, Marnitz Boshoff, Wynand Willis, Rossouw de Klerk, De Wet Barry.

Lions Black team: 15 Alwyn Hollenbach , 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Rouan Cloete, 12 Justin St Jerry, 11 Shandre Frolick, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Chris Jonck, 8 Jonathan Mokuena, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Danie Crous, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Jannes Labuschagne (captain), 3 JC Janse van Rensburg, 2 Derek Harwood, 1 Lawrence Sephaka.
Replacements: 16 Hans Van Dyk, 17 TBC, 18 Nico Luus, 19 Johan Van Deventer, 20 Doppies la Grange, 21 Jannie Boshoff.

Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete, Ben Crouse

18.30 kick-off:

Bulls Blue 42-12 Lions Red:

Scorers:

Bulls Blue:
Tries: Van den Heever 2, Kruger, Mametsa, Van Schalkwyk
Cons: Steyn 4
Pens: Steyn 3

Lions Red:
Tries: Mjekevu, Engelbrecht
Con: Kruger

Teams:

Bulls Blue team: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Derick Kuün, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements - from: Jaco Engels, Bandise Maku, Bees Roux, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Ruan Snyman, Francois Brummer, Stephan Dippenaar, Dries van Schalkwyk, De Wet Barry.

Lions Red team: 15 Michael Killian, 14 Wigan Pekeur, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Alex Koch, 8 Todd Clever, 7 Derrick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 George Earl, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Hannes Franklin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Charles Enslie, 17 TBC, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Alistair Siegelaar, 21 Trompie Nontshinga/Bernardo Botha, 22 Wandile Mjekevu.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete, Ben Crouse

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