Boland punish ill-disciplined Bulls

MATCH REPORT: The Boland Kavaliers got their Currie Cup campaign off to a winning start following a 24-10 victory over the Bulls in Wellington on Sunday.

The Bulls’ discipline, set-piece and overall handling was atrocious in difficult conditions, and they couldn’t get out of their half in the second half with Boland pinning them back through clever kicking.

The game had its fair share of drama as well, with several scuffles breaking out at various points during the match.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

Boland got off to a near-perfect start but knocked the ball on inside the Bulls’ in-goal area as a scoring opportunity went to waste.

The hosts kept applying the pressure, and following a sequence of penalties conceded by the Bulls, Boland made them pay through a rolling maul try by hooker Joshua Eras in the sixth minute. James Tedder nailed the conversion down the middle.

Boland suffered a massive blow as James Tedder appeared to suffer a knee injury following a collision and had to leave the field.

The Bulls’ lack of discipline kept them on the backfoot and referee Griffin Colby warned captain Nama Xaba to improve their behaviour.

The warning became a reality as Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg was sent to the sinbin in the 15th minute for being offside.

The penalties kept mounting, and the Bulls were given another team warning by referee Colby.

Boland kept knocking on the door and got over the line through former Bull Dayan van der Westhuizen in the 25th minute, who dotted down in the corner. Jayden Bantom slotted the conversion to make it a 14-0 lead.

The Bulls squandered a golden opportunity five metres from the Boland line for a crooked throw-in with 10 minutes of play left in the opening stanza.

Boland found themselves under fire and received a team warning as well after conceding several penalties in their red zone with the clock in the red.

The Bulls opted for a shot at goal despite having Boland under fire, which Keagan Johannes slotted to get the Bulls on the board before heading to the sheds.

Continues below…

Boland won a penalty, which Bantom slotted down the middle to restore the hosts’ 14-point lead in the 48th minute.

The Bulls finally crossed the whitewash by means of a line-out maul as Shaun Schürmann dotted down in the 58th minute. Johannes brought it back to a seven-point game following the conversion kick.

Boland won a penalty for a side entry and declined the gift three points by opting for the line-out.

The decision backfired as Janse van Rensburg stole it cleanly.

Boland sealed the deal with a penalty try awarded for a cynical collapse of a maul after the hosts powered forward to the whitewash from the Bulls’ 22-metre line.

Captain Xaba was deemed the guilty party for the collapse and got his marching orders to the naughty chair.

A massive scuffle broke out a minute before fulltime after the Bulls won a scrum penalty which started between Chriswill September and Johannes, with the latter throwing the ball away and starting the scuffle.

September got sent to the sinbin for his actions in the 79th minute.

The Bulls gave themselves one final shot to score a late try, which would’ve secured a losing bonus point, but Van der Westhuizen stole it at the breakdown with Bantom booting the ball into touch.

Boland stole the ball and opted for one final attack to score their fourth try for a bonus point, but the ball got knocked on, and referee Colby blew his whistle to end proceedings.

Scorers:

For Boland:
Tries: Eras, van der Westhuizen, Penalty try
Cons: Tedder, Bantom
Pens: Bantom

For the Bulls:
Tries: Schürmann
Cons: Johannes
Pens: Johannes

Yellow cards: Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (Bulls, 15′ – repeated infringements: offside), Nama Xaba (Bulls, 74′ – Cynical foul: deliberate collapse of a maul with momentum), Chriswill September (Boland, 7′ – Cynical foul – throwing the ball away)

Teams:

Boland: 15 James Tedder, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jayden Bantom, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Sauliegh Arendse, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Joshua Eras, 1 Mthokozisi Gumede
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Johnré Stopforth, 20 Gift Dlamini, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Ashlon Davids, 23 Domenic Smit

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Hakeem Kunene, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 PA van Niekerk, 11 Riyaad Bam, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Brooklyn Newman, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Abongile Nonkotwana, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Mawande Mdanda, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Dylan Smith
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schürmann, 17 Damian Baker, 18 Dian Coetzee, 19 Cephas van Biljon, 20 Chinedu Amadi, 21 Viaan Mentoor, 22 Christiaan Viok, 23 JJ Motlhodi

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Juan de Bod, Zoe Naude
TMO: Quinton Immelman