Golden Lions put 50 past Blue Bulls
The Golden Lions made a convincing plea for their re-entrance to Super Rugby when they overpowered the Blue Bulls 50-12 in a friendly match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Johannesburg-based side fired on all cylinders in the first half scoring four unanswered tries for a 31-0 lead going into break.
They continually asked questions of the Bulls' defence with some clever backline moves, but it was the forwards who caused the most damage.
Lions captain JC Janse van Rensburg proved once again why he is so highly-rated during scrum time and gave Marcell van der Merwe a baptism of fire in his debut for the men in blue.
The Bulls were outplayed in the scrums, with the Lions using their domination in this area to great effect.
Nicolaas Hanekom found their way over the tryline for the Lions two minutes into the match. Flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff converted the try for a 7-0 lead.
The Lions continued to grind their way over the advantage line and, seven minutes later, set up a try for prop Julian Redelinghuys.
Boshoff converted and added three more points through a penalty.
On the half-hour mark, Hendrik Roodt crossed the whitewash for his side's third try, with Boshoff converting to extend their lead to 24 points.
With five minutes left in the first half, Deon van Rensburg scored from a an intercept to finish off with a long-range sprint.
Boshoff added the two points to give the Lions a 31-0 lead going into the break.
Despite the Bulls showing some improvements in defence, the Lions scored three more tries in the second period – with flank Derick Minnie scoring the first try after the break.
Anthony Volmink got into the action 13 minutes later, through some fleet-footed running as he toyed with the defence. He went outside and then cut to the inside to score under the posts, with Boshoff converting.
The Bulls' eventual first try came courtesy of Jacques du Plessis, with Tony Jantjies converting the five-pointer.
Guy Cronje dotted down, for the Lions' seventh try, in the left-hand corner, which Lionel Cronje converted to bring up the team's half-century.
The hosts had the final say when Ruan Snyman found a gap to score two minutes from time with Jantjies' effort going wide.
Scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Du Plessis, Snyman
Con: Tony Jantjies.
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Hanekom, Redelinghuys, Roodt, Van Rensburg, Minnie, Volmink, Cronje
Cons: Boshoff 5, L Cronje
Pen: Boshoff
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudi Paige, 8 Jean Cook, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Dennis Visser, 4 Schalk van Heerden, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Replacements – from: Bongi Mbonambi, Hencus van Wyk, Christoff Gouws, Irne Herbst, Roelof Smit, Ruan Snyman, Tony Jantjies, Dries Swanepoel, Rohan Janse van Rensburg.
Golden Lions: 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Dylan des Fountain, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Lambert Groenewald, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (captain).
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 JJ Breedt, 20 Willie Britz, 21 Guy Cronjé, 22 Lionel Cronjé, 23 Chrysander Botha.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Eduan Nel, Sieg van Staden
SAPA
