The Vodacom Bulls are back in the Currie Cup play-off race with a bonus-point 40-20 win over Windhoek Draught Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
The Vodacom Bulls' powerful pack of forwards were the foundation on which they built their win on, giving them a steady supply of quality possession and a 19-03 lead at the halftime break. The match lost a bit of structure during the second half with the Vodacom Bulls adding four tries to secure a well-deserved 40-20 bonus point win.
The Vodacom Bulls started like a house on fire when Embrose Papier scored during the opening minutes.
Lubablo Dobela opened the scoring for the home team with a converted penalty after fifteen minutes of play.
The Vodacom Bulls continued to dominate the first-half exchanges as Johan Grobbelaar bulldozed his way over their host tryline following wave after wave of attacks to lead 14-03 after thirty minutes of play.
The pattern of the first half continued in the second half as the Vodacom Bulls used their dominant forwards to apply sustained pressure with Windhoek Draught Griquas' defence struggling to keep up. Elrigh Louw scored the Vodacom Bulls' third try just before the halftime break. The Vodacom Bulls led 19-03 at the halftime break.
The Vodacom Bulls' Grobbelaar scored his second try following a Harold Vorster sniping run cutting through the struggling Windhoek Draught defence. The bonus-point try by Grobbelaar extended the Vodacom Bulls lead to 26-03.
Minutes late Windhoek Draught Griquas' Johan Mulder intercepted to narrow the gap to 08-26 after just four minutes of play in the second half.
Marco Jansen van Vuren scored the Vodacom Bulls' fifth try, however, the Windhoek Draught Griquas was not done yet with Jay-Cee Nel scoring their second try and narrowing the gap to 15-33.
Stephan Smit scored from the back of a ruck to score Windhoek Draught Griquas' third try, however, the Vodacom Bulls' Simphiwe Matanzima scored the Vodacom Bulls' sixth try following great hands and interplay by the Vodacom Bulls and secured a 40-20 bonus-point win to get the Currie Cup campaign back on track.
Scorers
Windhoek Draught Griquas: Tries: Johan Mulder, Jay-Cee Nel, Stephan Smit. Conversion: Lubabalo Dobela. Penalty: Lubabalo Dobela.
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Embrose Papier, Johan Grobbelaar (2), Elrigh Louw, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Simphiwe Matanzima. Conversions: Chris Smith (5)
Teams
Windhoek Draught Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Sako Makata, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Hanru Sirgel (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Dylan Sjöblom, 4 Derik Pretorius, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube. Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Stephan Smit, 21 Reagan Oranje, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Sango Xamlashe.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Sibongile Novuka, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Nizaam Carr, ‘6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Barend Smit, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
