Vodacom Bulls Bully Hollywoodbets Sharks In Pretoria

 

The Vodacom Bulls made it five wins in seven matches and continued their impressive form with a dominant 44-10 bonus point win against the Hollywoodbets Sharks.

Apart from the first 5 odd minutes of the first half, the Bulls dominated play and possession in the first half. They scored 3 well-worked tries to lead 22-03 at the halftime break. Once again apart from the first 7 odd minutes the Bulls dominated to secure a bonus point 44-10 win.

The Sharks had a great start to put the Bulls under almost immediate pressure. The pressure resulted in a penalty which was converted after 2 minutes by Curwin Bosch.

Seven minutes later Johan Goosen levelled the scores with a converted penalty.

The Bulls slowly clawed their way back into the match and after 13 minutes of play in the first half, the Bulls played the blind side from a scrum with Stedman Gans taking the last tackle from Canan Moodie to score the first try of the match in the corner to lead 10-03.

A penalty following a yellow card to Fez Mbatha (Sharks), led to a lineout maul by the Bulls. The ball was spread wide when Stedman Gans ran a brilliant line to burst through two tackles to score his second try of the match and extend the Bulls lead to 17-03.

The Bulls continued to apply the pressure and set up camp in the Sharks 22m. Kurt-Lee Arebdse stepped and stormed his way pass several defenders of the Sharks to score the Bulls' 3rd try to extend the Bulls' lead to 22-03 and 6 minutes to play.

Akker van der Merwe scored the Bulls' bonus point try with time almost up on the clock, breaking away from a dominant lineout maul from The Bulls. They deservedly led 27-03 going into the second half.

The Sharks upped their pace of play in the second half a were awarded a penalty try following the illegal sacking of a maul. Gerhard Steenekamp was shown a yellow card for his effort.

As the half continued the Bulls clawed their way back and following some great interplay and passing captail Elrigh Louw bulldozed his way over the Sharks' tryline to extend the Bulls' lead to 34-10 with 18 minutes still to play.

A Johan Goosen converted penalty, and a great try by Akker van der Merwe extended the Bulls' lead to 44-10 which was also the final score.

Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Stedman Gans (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Akker van der Merwe (2), Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Johan Goosen (4). Penalty: Johan Goosen (2).
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Try: Penalty Try. Penalty: Curwin Bosch (2).

Teams:

Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (c), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.

Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 13 Lukhanyo Am (c), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Lappies Labuschagne, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Marco de Witt, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.