The Vodacom Bulls' team selection made the headlines, however, Northampton Saints ignored all the fuss and strolled into the Champions Cup semi-final with a nine-try 59-22 victory.
The Vodacom Bulls kept in contact with the Northampton Saints on the scoreboard, trailing 28-22 at the halftime break, however, five tries and thirty-one unanswered points were scored by Northampton Saints in the second half to cruise to a 59-22 win.
The Vodacom Bulls had a more than decent start to the match and kept the Northampton Saints from scoring until the tenth match when they attacked from within their half to score an "easy" try as James Ramm dotted down. However, the Vodacom Bulls struck back almost immediately with a try by Cameron Hanekom next to the poles to level the scores at 07-07.
A mistake by the Vodacom Bulls on the defence saw Courtney Lawes score a team try with several Northampton Saints handling the ball on their way to extend their lead to 14-07. Chris Smith converted a penalty two minutes later to reduce the hosts' lead to just four points.
Poor defence by the Vodacom Bulls was directly responsible for the next two Northampton Saints tries when Ollie Sleightholme and Alex Mitchel scored, extending their lead to 28-10 with sixteen minutes left to play in the first half.
The Vodacom Bulls refused to play dead and following seven minutes of a brutal battle Akker van der Merwe scored the Vodacom Bulls' second try. The Vodacom Bulls were not finished yet, and Sebastian de Klerk intercepted the ball five meters from the Vodacom Bulls' tryline to run the length of the field reducing Northampton Saints' lead to 28-22, which was also the score at the halftime break.
Northampton Saints struck back immediately from the kick-off with Alex Coles scoring the hosts' fifth try. Further tries by James Ramm, Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell and Juarno Augustus sealed a comprehensive 59-22 win for the Northampton Saints.
Scorers:
Northampton Saints: Tries: James Ramm, Courtney Lawes, Ollie Sleightholme, Alex Mitchel, Alex Coles, James Ramm, Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell, Juarno Augustus. Conversions: Fin Smith (7).
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Cameron Hanekom, Akker van der Merwe. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalty: Chris Smith
Teams
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 George Hendy, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun. Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Lewis Ludlam, 22 Tom James, 23 George Furbank.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Henry Immelman, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Nizaam Carr (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Merwe Olivier, 20 Reinhardt Ludwig, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
