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UnbelievaBulls at it again

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:06

Battle of Bloem: Springboks Pierre Spies and Heinrich Brussow get to grips - Pic: Rian Botes

The defending champion Bulls continued where they left off last year, beating a game Cheetahs team 51-34 in an entertaining and at times dazzling First Round encounter in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The six tries to three victory was a mix of amazing backline brilliance and brute forward strength - including a penalty try to the Bulls, as they demolished the Cheetahs scrum.

Two key aspects in the final outcome: The Bulls won away from home and they collected a bonus point.

But don't discard the Cheetahs. They may have been outplayed by a Bulls team that was equally as impressive on Friday as they were in putting 60 points past the Chiefs in the Final last year, but the men from Bloemfontein showed they had made great strides since their last-place finish in 2009.

And for those worried that  all this emphasis on the tackle would kill the game. Relax. If the re-emphasis on tackle compliance needed marketing this was the game to use.

It was splendid - a great advertisement for rugby, a wonderful advertisement for Super 14. If the matches can go on like this, we are in for an exhausting time just watching.

It all started with the policing and playing of the tackle. There was an endless stream of quick ball to encourage the backs to fly into action - and it happened without plethora of penalties - 16 in the match, eight at the tackle.

Afterwards bot captains, Juan Smith of the Cheetahs and Bulls skipper Victor Matfield remarked on the speed of the game.

Smith said: "It was much quicker - an awesome game."

Matfield said: "The game's so quick. It was great."

It was great and it got off to a brilliant, astonishing start.

Riaan Viljoen kicked off for the Cheetahs. He kicked off high with Jongi Nokwe chasing. As the ball came down to Fourie du Preez Nokwe arrived and forced Du Preez into losing the ball. The Cheetahs came in and the ball went to the left to Naas Olivier who got into a half gap which demanded the attention of two Bulls and then the flyhalf passed to wing Lionel Mapoe who came hurtling back past four defenders to score.

That try took 19 seconds. It was brilliant.

Olivier converted and the Cheetahs led 7-0. The ground was not full but the crowd was bigger than usual at the big ground and they would keep up an excited noise for the entire 80 minutes.

In fact the players were on the field for more than 80 minutes - because at one stage in the secind half the lights suddenly went out and plunged Vodacom Park into darkness. But the lights came back and the excitement continued with a try from the restart.

After the early try Morné Steyn and Naas Olivier exchanged penalties. 8-3 after 10 minutes.

Both sides were running with the ball and putting it through many phases. The Bulls' phases had a faster, sharper edge to them from a scrum they went 8-9-13 and Jaco Pretorius cut clean through for a try at the posts. That gave the Bulls the lead at 10-8 after 15 minutes.

Again the flyhalves traded penalties to make the score 13-11 to the Bulls but another penalty by Olivier made it 14-13 to the home side as fortunes ebbed and flowed.

From another sharp-edged attack Steyn dashed over with enough thrust to get beyond Adrian Strauss's tackle. 20-14 and then 23-14 after a penalty. There was now daylight between the two sides.

The first astounding 11 minutes of the second half produced 31 points.

Naas Olivier kicked a penalty goal. The Wynand Olivier ran across and took out four Cheetahs before straightening and sending Gerhard van den Heever over on the left. Two minutes later it was Zane Kirchner's turn. Viljoen kicked high, John Mametsa caught under pressure and then Danie Rossouw footed ahead. Kirchner chased, fly kicked and neatly dotted down. 37-17 after 46 minutes.

The Cheetahs were awarded a free kick at an attacking scrum. They tapped and bashed at the line till Smith's great strength enabled him to bring the ball down for the try. 37-24.

Then came the try of the match. Tewis de Bruyn passed to Viljoen 10 metres from the Cheetahs' goal-line. Viljoen sped down the left and side of the field and gave inside. The ball went to the far left where Strauss drew his man and gave to Nokwe who raced past Kirchner to score. Eight passes - and some running - had taken the Cheetahs 90 metres to the Bulls try-line. 37-31 to the Bulls. It seemed that the Cheetahs had turned the corner.

But the Bulls had other plans.

They were patient when the lights went out, apparently concocting some dark plot for from the restart scrum, the Cheetahs were penalised, Du Preez tapped a penalty and the Bulls were at the line. They went left and Olivier cut the Cheetahs' defence on a perfect angle. 44-34 with 25 minutes play.

Olivier kicked a penalty and then the Bulls were at the line and in fact Van den Heever was over the line. The matter was refereed to the television match official. It was the second time that this happened.

The first time was when Nokwe swerved and darted and plunged for the try as Deon Stegmann clung to him. The TMO was able to advise that Nokwe lost the ball forward at the last moment. In the second case Van den Heever swerved and darted and plunged for the line as Danwel Demas clung to him. This time the TMO advised that the ball had been held up. They were two remarkable tackles.

The second one resulted in a five-metre scrum for the Bulls who then shoved the Cheetahs back rapidly. their side of the scrum disintegrated and the referee awarded a penalty try.

Man of the Match: In a great game - and this was a great game - there are many great performances.  Many players spring to mind - Juan Smith, Adriaan Strauss, Lionel Mapoe and Jongi Nokwe of the Cheetahs, Gerhard van den Heever, Morné Steyn, Deon Stegmann and Pierre Spies of the Bulls - and our Man of the Match the splendid, creative, tough Wynand Olivier.

The scorers:

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Mapoe, Smith, Nokwe
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier 5

For the Bulls:
Tries: Pretorius, Steyn, Van den Heever, Kirchner, Olivier, Penalty try
Cons: Steyn  6
Pens: Steyn 3

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Frans Viljoen, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Danwel Demas.

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referee: Marius Jonker, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

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