Bulls cruise past outclassed Griffons
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls hardly broke a sweat as they cruised to a 52-10 win over the Griffons in a Currie Cup Round Two fixture in Welkom on Sunday.
Playing on a bone-dry pitch in an icy wind, the Bulls scored eight tries to move into third place on the standings – one of only three unbeaten teams.
The tempo and physicality of the Bulls were too much for a home team lacking the quality of players to compete at this level.
The Bulls, with a very strong breeze at their backs, were scoring at almost a point a minute and held a 31-5 lead at the half-time break.
For the home team – who had brief moments of promise – the biggest problem was to retain their limited possession long enough to put the visitors under serious pressure.
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The Bulls got off to a flying start – two powerful mauls and a timely offload saw Aphiwe Dyantyi open the scoring with a try. Jaco van der Walt added the conversion – 7-0 after just two minutes.
Celimpilo Gumede was next to cross the line for the visitors, as the Griffons struggled to get a foothold in the game. Van der Walt’s conversion made it 14-0 after eight minutes.
The blue waves kept coming, with Devon Williams and Gumedi (his second) crossing to bring the bonus point up in by the end of the first quarter – 26-0.
It got worse for the home team when flask Thato Mavundla was yellow-carded for cynically killing the ball after a line break.
Almost immediately scrumhalf Van der Linde sneaked over from a ruck close to the line for the fifth try.
This saw the Bulls slack off and Qamani Kota exploited the lack of focus by the visitors to sprint over in a left corner – breaking the home team’s duck.
It took the Bulls less than two minutes to get the scoreboard ticking over in the second half – Chris Barend Smit bursting over from a flat pass by Van der Linde.
Both teams started to clear their respective benches, bringing a period of instability and scrappy play.
Just short of the hour mark Sintu Manjezi received a great inside pass from Smit to jog over for the seventh try – 45-5.
With five minutes remaining on the clock, after a couple of silly penalties by the Bulls, replacement Matthew Gray burst over from a ruck close to the line to get a consolation score for the home team.
Veteran Springbok Cornal Hendricks eventually stepped his way past several defenders to get the eight try for the visitors – with the Smith conversion taking the Bulls’ total beyond 50 points (52-10).
That’s how it stayed to the end.
The scorers
For the Griffons
Tries: Kota, Gray
For the Bulls
Tries: Dyantyi, Gumede 2, Williams, Van der Linde, Smit, Manjezi, Hendricks
Cons: Van der Walt 3, Smith 3
Yellow card: Thato Mavundla (Griffons, 29 – cynical foul, killing the ball after a line break)
Teams
Griffons: 15 Gurshwin Wehr, 14 Gilroy Philander, 13 Keanu Vers, 12 Robbie Petzer, 11 Qamani Kota, 10 Duan Pretorius (captain), 9 Keegan Schaefer, 8 Siphamandla Mingo Piti, 7 Wikus Nieuwenhuis, 6 Thato Mavundla, 5 Curtly Thomas, 4 Rian Olivier, 3 Moango Ngundue, 2 Chadley Wenn, 1 Xolani Jacobs.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Buhle Nojekwa, 19 Joshua Paris, 20 Matthew Gray, 21 Jared Kruger, 22 Cheslin Arendse, 23 Christiaan Nel.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Bernard van der Linde, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Nizaam Carr (captain), 5 Sintu Manjezi, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Jope van Zyl, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Jacques van Rooyen, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Merwe Olivier, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Izak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Christie du Preez
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