The Vodacom Bulls' revenge for their 33-43 loss to the Lions at Loftus Versveld was achieved in spectacular fashion, beating the Lions 52-17 after leading 26-03 at the halftime break.
The Vodacom Bulls had a dominant start to the match, and following nine minutes of clinical forward play, it was Harold Vorster who picked up a ball behind a ruck to crash over and score the Vodacom Bulls' first try of the match. Handre Pollard converted to edge the Bulls 07-00 into the lead.
Chris Smith converted a penalty for the Lions, cutting the Bulls' lead to 07-03 after twenty-two minutes of play.
Despite the Lions clawing their way back into the match, the Bulls continued to apply pressure with direct play, and eventually it was Johan Grobbelaar who crashed over, extending the Bulls’ lead to 12-03.
With two minutes still to play, Handre Pollard took a short offload from Marcell Coetzee to score the Bulls' third try. Handre Pollard converted to extend the Bulls’ lead to 19-03.
A relentless Bulls were not finished, and Stedman Gans intercepted a “pass” and following great interplay, it was Kurt-Lee Arendse who scored the Vodacom Bulls' fourth and bonus-point try. Pollard converted, giving the Bulls a deserved 26-03 lead at the halftime break.
The Bulls’ dominance is reflected in the statistics at halftime, dominating territory 80/20 and possession 70/30.
The Lions had a much better start in the second half, and following wave after wave of attacks, it was eventually the captain Francke Horn who put Morne van den Berg in a gap to stroll over for the Lions' first try. Chris Smith added the extra two points, cutting the Bulls' lead to 26-10 after seven minutes of play in the second half.
However, the Bulls were relentless on the attack, and Harold Vorster crashed over for the Bulls' fifth try, which Handre Pollard converted, extending the Bulls' lead to 33-10.
With twenty-five minutes to play, despite a spirited “fightback” from the Lions, the Bulls were in cruise mode to a well-deserved victory.
Three minutes later, great interplay by the Bulls secured Embrose Papier’s long-distance try, extending the Bulls' lead to 40-10 following Pollard’s conversion.
Mpilo Gumede and Keagan Johannes added their names to the Bulls’ try scorers during the final ten minutes, to which the Lions replied with a late try by Bronson Mills.
The Bulls deservedly secured a 52-17 bonus point win.
Scorers:
Lions: Tries: Morne van den Berg, Bronson Mills. Conversion: Chris Smith (2). Penalty: Chris Smith.
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Harold Vorster (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Handre Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Embrose Papier, Mpilo Gumede, Keagan Johannes. Conversions: Handre Pollard (5), Keagan Johannes.
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Richard Kriel, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinnhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Scheoman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Darrien Landsberg, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Erich Cronje.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Stravino Jacobs, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Nizaam Carr, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 David Kriel.