The Vodacom Bulls returned to Fortress Loftus today for a tricky game against the Tafel Lager Griquas. These two teams occupied second and third positions on the log respectively. The match saw the Bulls eventually dominating the play after a strong start by the Griquas who went down to the Bulls 56-33. This Bulls victory ensured that they remain in the hunt for home ground advantage in the semi-finals.
The changes made by the Bulls that included some new players seemed to have paid off against the Griquas who also had to make changes due to injuries to some of their star players. The match started with strong play by the Griquas that forced a plethora of penalties by the Bulls and Griquas took an early lead on the scoreboard. The Bulls, however, started to take control of the match in all aspects but kept on conceding penalties as well as two yellow cards, which kept Griquas in the hunt until the last 25 minutes of the match, when the Bulls ran away with the scoreline.
01:58 Griquas opened their scoring tally with a penalty kick by George Whitehead from just outside the Bulls’ quarter (3-0).
05:31 Griquas was awarded another penalty due to offside backline play by the Bulls. Successfully kicked by George Whitehead (6-0).
09:38 Yellow card awarded to Bulls prop Mornay Smith for cynical play during a ruck.
12:31 Bulls get their first points on the scoreboard after a successful penalty kick by Johan Goosen (6-3).
16:55 Bulls scores their first try when Johan Goosen intercepted a pass in the Griquas backline. Successfully converted by him (6-10).
20:00 The Griquas started the half with plenty of possession and territory due to plenty of penalties conceded by the Bulls and managed to score 6 points. The Bulls, however, started to get better control of the match despite playing with 14 men and also managed to score.
25:23 Bulls scored their second try after Schalk Erasmus crashes over the try line from a driving maul. Conversion missed by Johan Goosen (6-15).
28:10 Bulls scored their third try after winger Lee Arendse goes over in the corner after good forward and backline interplay in the Griquas quarter. Conversion missed by Johan Goosen (6-20).
34:26 Griquas flyhalf George Whitehead successfully kicked a penalty from within the Bulls’ half. (9-20).
39:31 Griquas scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer scored their first try in the corner after a very good backline break by centre Chris Hollis from deep within their half. Successfully converted by George Whitehead (16-20).
40:00 The Bulls continued to take control of the match and started to dominate the possession increasing their scoreline with strong forward play. However, they also continued to give away penalties keeping Griquas in the hunt.
43:01 Griquas closed the score difference to 1 point after a successful penalty kick by George Whitehead (19-20).
44:35 Bulls lock Walt Steenkamp crashed over the try line under the Griquas’ poles after strong forward play from a penalty in the Griquas quarter. Converted by Johan Goosen (19-27).
51:50 Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen successfully kicked a penalty after Griquas was penalised for a no arms tackle (19-30).
53:56 Penalty try awarded to Griquas after a deliberate knockdown by Kurt-Lee Arendse who received a yellow card (26-30).
57:58 Elrigh Louw from the Bulls scored a try after a strong break through the Griquas defence within their quarter. Converted by Johan Goosen (26-37).
60:00 The Bulls managed to stay ahead on the scoreboard despite ill discipline which saw them concede a penalty try and another subsequent yellow card.
65:14 Bulls hooker Schalk Erasmus scored his second try after crashing over the try line from a penalty lineout driving maul. Converted by Johan Goosen (26-44).
71:08 Bulls scored another try after the replacement hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels went over the try line from another strong Bulls driving maul. Conversion missed by Johan Goosen (26-49).
75:10 Bulls winger Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a try in the corner after a good break along the sideline. Converted by Chris Smith (26-56).
79:10 Griquas scored a last-minute try after Janco Uys broke through the Bulls defence. Converted by George Whitehead (33-56).
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Johan Goosen, Schalk Erasmus (2), Lee Arendse, Walt Steenkamp, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Johan Goosen (4), Chris Smith. Penalties: Johan Goosen (2)
Tafel Lager Griquas: Tries: Stefan Ungerer, penalty try, Janco Uys. Conversions: George Whitehead (1). Penalties: George Whitehead (4)
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15. David Kriel, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Arno Botha, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c) 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Schalk Erasmus, 1. Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Jacques du Plessis, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Stedman Gans, 24. Joe van Zyl, 25. Muller Uys, 26. WJ Steenkamp, 27. Marco Jansen van Vuren, 28. Richard Kriel.
Tafel Lager Griquas: 15. Ashlon Davids, 14. Eduan Keyter, 13. Chris Hollis, 12. Jonathan Francke, 11. Enver Brandt, 10. George Whitehead, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Hanru Sirgel, 7. Luyolo Dapula, 6. Ruan Steenkamp ©, 5. Cameron Lindsay, 4. Stefan Willemse, 3. Janu Botha, 2. Alandre van Rooyen, 1. Mox Mxoli. Replacements: 16. Janco Uys, 17. Andrew Kuhn, 18. Erich de Jager, 19. Jaendre Leonard, 20. Gideon vd Merwe, 21. Reagan Oranje, 22. Andre Swarts, 23. Ederies Arendse, 24. Andrew Beerwinkel, 25. Johan Momsen, 26. Theo Boshoff.
Article by Francois du Toit