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Bulls' power beats Sharks' guts

Sat, 01 May 2010 21:10

Bullish performer: Bulls centre Jacques-Louis Potgieter - Pic: Rian Botes

The rain came pouring down at a packed Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, but despite the weather the sell-out crowd sat enthralled for 80 minutes as the Bulls eventually won 27-19, a deserved win but a tough one.

The win consolidates the Bulls' position at the top of the log as the defeat ends the Sharks' hopes of an outside chance to get to the semis after five successive victories.

The Sharks suffered a major blow when Bismarck du Plessis was forced to withdraw on Friday when he underwent an operation for damage to his neck, ruling him out at least of the rest of the Super 14. It is astonishing to think that this exceptionally strong young man who has been playing his best rugby ever should suffer an injury.

That Sharks made late changes. They moved John Smit to hooker with Tendai Mtawarira coming into loosehead. The Sharks brought 21-year-old Wiehahn Herbst onto the bench as prop cover.

In another, surprise change, Ryan Kankowski was on the bench amongst the back replacements but came on as a No.8 late in the second half.

The Sharks led till half-time, courtesy of the boot of Andy Goode, mostly long kicks.  But the second half belonged to the Bulls as they became more expansive and it was not till the last five minutes that the Sharks had any say in the second half.

In the first half there were just two scrums, one for each side. And then the Sharks got the put-in at only one scrum in the second half. One would have expected more scrumming in the weather and perhaps it is a feather in the caps of both sides that there were so few scrums.

There was not a lot of scoring but it was an absorbing game that simply flew by. It was a great contest but in the end the Bulls had too many big guns for the Sharks who stayed fighting to the very end.

It looked initially as if there would be more running as in the first few minutes there was a great burst by Pierre Spies and then a long break-out by Jean Deysel. Instead high kicks and rugged mauls became the man tactic.

The Sharks scored first - two penalties by Goode, the first when Dewald Potgieter was penalised at a tackle and the second when Bakkies Botha was penalised for obstruction in a line-out. Morné Steyn missed a penalty kick at goal - strange to relate - and then goaled one when Deysel  infringed at a tackle. Goode added two more and after 23 minutes, the Sharks led 12-3.

Next it was Steyn's turn - one against Jacques Botes and one a silly obstruction by Goode.

The Bulls had one good attack in the half when they mauled and then played wide. Zane Kirchner, François Hougaard and Gary Botha were close.

The second half started with the Bulls more expansive but running into hard, immediate tackling.

The best moment in the early part of the half belonged to the Sharks. Goode turned a ball inside to Lwazi Mvovo who burst at speed through the midfield from just outside his 22 to just outside the Bulls' 22.

Back came the Bulls - right and then wide left where it seemed that Hougaard would score but Mvovo had come across from his wing and tackled Hougaard out at the corner.

The Bulls had a five-metre scrum, then a five-metre free kick and then another five-metre free kick. Something had to give. Steyn missed a penalty kick but then goaled one to make it 12-all after 58 minutes.

Playing flyhalf, Ruan Pienaar chipped and nearly got to the ball but Fourie du Preez got there first on his own 10-metre line. The Bulls went left. Wynand Olivier beat Riaan Swanepoel  with a hand-off and broke outside of him. He gave to a speeding Kirchner on his left and the fullback played inside to Jacques-Louis Potgieter who skipped over for a try. 22-12 with 13 minutes to play. It was an important score.

The Bulls mauled on the left. It became static and then Du Preez, not far in from touch on his left, lobbed a high diagonal to the far right where Kirchner beat Patrick Lambie in a jump for the ball. Kirchner knocked it back and Stephan Dippenaar looked about to score till Mvovo's tackle knocked the ball from his grasp but the ball fell backwards. Gerhard van den Heever snatched it up and dived over in the right corner. 27-12 with 7 minutes top play.

Now, with all the Bulls' replacements on the field, the Sharks attacked and they did it so well till, suddenly, Rory Kockott broke from a tackle/ruck some 20 metres from the Bulls' line. He broke inside Olivier and headed for the line as Kirchner and Steyn tried to stop him. Kockott scored. 27-19 with five minutes to play. The Sharks certainly tried to play but the Bulls kept them at bay.

Man of the Match: This time a hooker - Gary Botha of the Bulls  - a sturdy hooker, an impeccable line-out man and an extra loose forward with quick reflexes.

Scorers:

For the Bulls:
Tries: Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Van den Heever
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn 5

For the Sharks:
Try: Kockott
Con: Pienaar
Pens: Goode: 4

Teams:

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

The Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Wiaan Herbst, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Ryan Kankowski, 22 Andries Strauss.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Reuben Rossouw (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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