The Vodacom Bulls secured a home semi-final in the Carling Currie Cup after a bonus-point win against the New Nation Pumas (33-26).
The Pumas was still leading with 15 minutes to go in the match. The Pumas pushed the Bulls until the last seconds of the game and will now have to wait on the other results from today's fixtures to see if they can still hold on to their 3rd place on the Carling Currie Cup log.
4:57 Niel Otto scored the Pumas first try after they dominated the early proceedings (07-00).
09:39 Great work by Niel Otto on the ground resulted in a penalty which was converted to extend the Pumas' lead (10-00).
19:32 Schalk Erasmus scored the Bulls 1st try from the back of a 5m lineout maul (10-07).
20:00 The Pumas dominated the early exchanges, however, the Bulls slowly took control with their try just before the end of the first quarter a clear sign of things to come.
29:35 Stravino Jacobs scored the Bulls second try. The Bulls starting to play typical Bulls rugby with several players handling the ball before the try (10-14).
34:44 Eddie Fouche converted his second penalty to cut the Bulls lead to 1 point (13-14).
41:11 Eddie Fouche converted their 3rd penalty to take the lead after the time was up on the clock (16-14).
40:00 The Pumas came back during the late part of the first half and converted two penalties to take the lead. However, the momentum is still with the Bulls going into the second half.
41:59 Alwayno Visagie (Pumas) received a yellow card.
44:18 An unforced mistake by the Bulls in the Pumas 22m lead to a try by Sebastián de Klerk who ran for a good 80m to score the try. Tapiwa Mafura did well to collect the ball after being dropped by Stravino Jacobs (23-14).
53:43 Stedman Gans (Bulls) received a yellow card.
55:49 Eddie Fouche converted the Pumas 4th penalty (26-14).
60:00 Jan-Hendrik Wessels scored the Bulls third try from the back of a 5m lineout maul (26-19).
60:00 The match at this stage balanced on a knife's edge with the Pumas dominance on the ground creating a lot of pressure on the Bulls.
65:47 A penalty try was awarded to the Bulls after a dominating scrum by the Bulls. The Bulls earn a bonus point for their 4th try (26-26).
71:08 Mornay Smith scored the Bulls 5th try as he steamrolled over the tryline (26-33).
Scorers:
New Nation Pumas: Tries: Niel Otto, Sebastián de Klerk. Conversions: Niel Marais, Eddie Fouche. Penalties: Niel Marais, Eddie Fouche (4).
Vodacom Blue Bulls: Tries: Schalk Erasmus, Stravino Jacobs, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Penalty Try, Mornay Smith. Conversions: Johan Goosen (3).
New Nation Pumas: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Sebastián de Klerk, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Khwezi Mafu, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Niel Otto, 5 Pieter van Vuuren, 4 Kwanda Dimaza, 3 Marne Coetzee, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Morgan Naude. Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Christo Bezuidenhout, 19 Shane Kirkwood, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Giovan Snyman, 22 Eddie Fouche, 23 Matt More.
Vodacom Bulls: 15. Sibongile Novuka, 14. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13. Stedman Gans, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Muller Uys, 6. Arno Botha (c), 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Janko Swanepoel, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Schalk Erasmus, 1. Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Mhleli Dlamini, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. WJ Steenkamp, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Lionel Mapoe, 24. Nolan Pienaar, 25. Reinhardt Roets, 26. Joe van Zyl, 27. Marco Jansen van Vuren, 28. Madosh Tambwe.