Bulls maul hapless Pumas

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls’ powerful scrums and maul steered them to a 48-31 win over Pumas in Nelspruit on Tuesday.

The young Bulls side captained by Nizaam Carr outscored their hosts seven tries to four.

*As it happened: Pumas v Bulls

The visitors used their forward pack to great effect and they recored their second consecutive win in the new season.

The home side conceded numerous penalties in the match that yielded no less than 11 tries, but would have expected more in the second half, after trailing 17-27 at the break.

The Bulls scored a number of tries through their driving maul and although that game plan buckled slightly after a couple of forward replacements, the coaching staff will be happy with the performances delivered by their young squad.

The men from Pretoria were on the scoreboard first.

Hooker Joe van Zyl was in the money after the Pumas AJ Le Roux conceded a silly penalty for tripping an opponent shortly after kick-off. The Bulls kicked to the line and drove Van Zyl over the line. Flyhalf Chris Smith converted for an early 7-0 lead.

The Pumas struck back immediately and attacked out wide. They were halted illegally, allowing them to force an attacking lineout, from which Francois Kleinhans scored. Neil Marais converted to level the scores after five minutes.

Stravino Jacobs scored after a good lineout drive which manipulated the Pumas’ defence and a clever pass by scrumhalf Embrose Papier exposed the home side’s defence. Smith converted to restore the seven point lead after ten minutes.

The Pumas struck back again when lock Brandon Valentine dotted down, following some good attacking play with Ali Mgijima prominent in the midfield. Marais converted to level scores again after 15 minutes.

The visitors went back to their pack for the lead again, again driving Van Zyl over the line after a strong lineout maul. The try gave them a 19-14 lead after 25 minutes. That was cut back to two points shortly after when Marais kicked the first penalty goal of the match and the 19-17 score-line after 30 minutes seemed fair.

The Bulls reverted to their power game yet again, with Gerhard Steenekamp barging over from close range. Again, the Pumas conceded a silly penalty, the visitors forced a lineout and were rewarded. More reward to their dominance came via a penalty goal from Smith, to hand them a 27-17 lead at the break.

Marais had the first scoring opportunity in the second half, when he attempted a 45 meter penalty goal, but pulled it and the ten point margin remained. That was extended to 17 points minutes later when Bulls prop Mornay Smith was driven over from yet another attacking lineout. Smith slotted the conversion from a tight angle.

The men from Pretoria started to put pressure on the accelerator and scored their first try through a backline move when Marnus Potgieter found space, courtesy of some strong driving by his pack.

At 41-17 after 55 minutes, the Pumas were looking down the barrel of a loaded gun and with their discipline non-existent, more misery was on the cards.

The Bulls swamped the field with their bench players and although it brought initial energy, they were soon found wanting in execution in the tight phases. The home side were rewarded a penalty try after a power scrum with ten minutes left, but for some physical dominance, they were always chasing the game.

Replacement prop Dewald Maritz crashed over late in the match, but a mistake from the restart gave the visitors one more play. Unsurprisingly, they opted for a rolling maul and Janco Uys dotted down to justify their territorial advantage onto the score board.

Man of the match: Lock Brandon Valentine was the standout performer for the Pumas. The big lock made huge tackles and made a couple of good carries. For the Bulls, scrumhalf Embrose Papier directed proceedings very well. However, our nod goes to Bulls prop Mornay Smith. The 23-year-old tighthead was impressive, he was constantly looking for work and was ruthless at the breakdown and scrummaging.

The scorers:

For Pumas:
Tries: Kleinhans, Valentine, Penaltu Try, Maritz
Cons: Marias 2, Fouche
Pens: Marias

For Bulls:
Tries: Carr, Jacobs, Van Zyl, Steenkamp, M Smith, Potgieter, Uys
Cons: C Smith 5
Pens: C Smith

Teams

Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Morne Joubert, 13 Sebastian de Klerk, 12 Ali Mgjima, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Neil Marais, 9 Chriswil September, 8 Francois Kleinhans, 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Phumzile Maqondwana, 5 Pieter van Vuuren (captain), 4 Brandon Valentine, 3 Ig Prinsloo, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Replacements: 16 Hendrik van Schoor, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Ruan Kramer, 19 Michael Benade, 20 Darrien Landsberg, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Eddie Fouché, 23 Erich Cronje.

Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Nizaam Carr (captain), 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements – from: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Nolan Pienaar, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Werner Gouws, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 Richard Kriel, 24 Henco Beukes, 25 Willie Potgieter, 26 Dawid Kellerman

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Ashleigh Murray
TMO: Pro Legoete

Picture credit: @OrtonMediaPhotos