Junior Springbok Cameron Hanekom scored two quick tries in succession for the Vodacom Bulls early in the first half to lay the foundation for a convincing 63-21 win over the visiting Scarlets.
The Bulls led 28-00 early in the first half, however, the Scarlets clawed their way back into the match and trailed 14-28 at the halftime break. The Bulls dominated the second half and scored 5 tries to the 1 of the Scarlets to secure the bonus point win.
The Bulls started the match at a blistering pace and Ruan Nortje scored their first try of the match after just 3 minutes of play. 3 Minutes later it was Cameron Hanekom who crossed the Scarlets' tryline to extend the Bulls' lead to 14-00.
The Bulls continued to dominate on the back of their powerful forwards. Cameron Hanekom scored his second try breaking away from the back of a dominant scrum to extend the Bulls' lead to 21-00 after 15 minutes of play.
Ten minutes later, the Bulls started to attack from a turnover ball from within their half. Johan Grobbelaar scored the Bulls' fourth and bonus point try following great handling and interplay by the Bulls.
The Scarlets started to get their hands on quality attacking ball during the final 15 minutes of the first half. A quick tap from a penalty and quick hands set Johnny McNIcholl away to score the Scarlets' first try in the corner to reduce the Bulls lead to 28-07.
Minutes later, Taine Plumtree bulldozed over the Bulls' tryline for the Scarlets' second try with seconds of the first half left on the clock. The Bulls led 28-14, however, the Scarlets have clawed their way back into the match.
It took 4 minutes for the Bulls to resume their fine form in the first quarter. David Kriel received a brilliant pass from Ruan Vermaak to go over in the corner to extend the Bulls lead to 35-14.
Following a well-worked move in the Scarlets 22m, Stedman Gans scored the Bulls sixth try to lead 42-14 after 10 minutes of play in the second half. Gans scored his second try seven minutes later with the Bulls seemingly unstoppable at this stage.
Tries by Akker van der Merwe and Wandisile Simelane followed before the Scarlets' Taine Plumtree scored their 3rd try to trail 63-21 and 10 minutes to play. This was also the final score
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Ruan Nortje, Cameron Hanekom (2), Johan Grobbelaar, David Kriel, Stedman Gans (2), Akker van der Merwe, Wandisile Simelane. Conversions: Johan Goosen (9).
Scarlets: Tries: Johnny McNIcholl, Taine Plumtree (2). Conversions: Ioan Lloyd (3).
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 1 Gerhard Steenekamp, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 3 Wilco Louw, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 5 Ruan Nortje (cc), 6 Marcell Coetzee (cc), 7 Elrigh Louw, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 9 Embrose Papier, 10 Johan Goosen, 11 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Harold Vorster, 13 David Kriel, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 15 Devon Williams. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Stedman Gans.
Scarlets: 1 Kemsley Mathias, 2 Shaun Evans, 3 Sam Wainwright, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Taine Plumtree, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Ben Williams, 9 Kieran Hardy, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 13 Joe Roberts, 14 Tom Rogers, 15 Johnny McNIcholl. Replacements: 16 Isaac Young, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Jac Price, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Ioan Nicholas.