Bulls pummel WP in Cape Town
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls used their powerful forward pack to lay the platform for their 48-23 bonus-point win over Western Province in Round One of the Currie Cup on Saturday.
The team from Pretoria scored six tries on their way to victory, with scrumhalf Zak Burger and No.8 Jeandre Rudolph both getting a brace.
Flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain also produced a kicking masterclass with six conversions and two penalties.
WP were pummelled in the scrums and the mauls and it won’t get any easier for them next week when they head to Ellis Park to face the Lions, who thrashed the Sharks 46-5 in Saturday’s early match.
The Bulls, who were led by former WP player Nama Xaba, applied the early pressure, and they converted it into points in the fifth minute when hooker Joe van Zyl found his way to the tryline from a maul.
Province hit back moments later with a three-pointer from Kyle Smith after some obstruction by the Bulls in the midfield.
However, the home side suffered a blow in the ninth minute when their captain Zain Davids was yellow carded for his team’s repeated infringements.
Not long after that, the Bulls extended their lead when Burger dived over the tryline after sustained pressure.
It was a bit of deja vu after that as the Bulls butchered another restart and it allowed Smith to reduce the visitors’ lead to eight points with penalty.
Despite being a man down, WP eventually found their way to the tryline when Shilton van Wyk intercepted a pass before racing away for five points.
But the home crowd was silenced a few minutes later when the Bulls turned to their driving maul again and this time it was lock Sintu Manjezi who scored the try.
The Bulls’ set-piece pressure made WP sweat and the home side lost both locks, Gary Porter and Alex Groves, to the sinbin in quick succession.
With the WP pack down to just six players, the Bulls opted for a scrum near the home side’s tryline, and the power proved to be too much as Rudolph scored an easy try in the 30th minute.
The Bulls also had a player yellow-carded in the form of Chris Smit for some cynical play before WP managed to add another three points to their tally.
However, the visitors scored their fifth try a couple of minutes later when Burger weaved his way to the tryline.
Chamberlain also rubbed salt into WP’s wounds just before the break when he slotted a penalty to give his side a 22-point lead.
Province looked way better with with ball in the opening stages of the first half and some slick passing put Courtnall Skosan into space to score his team’s second try.
A bit of the momentum went WP’s way, but the Bulls were next to score when Rudolph got his second try in the 64th minute after some clever interplay between backs and forwards in the strike zone.
WP never really troubled the Bulls in the closing stages as Chamberlain put a seal on the victory with another penalty in the 78th minute.
Man of the match: Scrumhalf Zak Burger was impressive around the fringes and he scored two tries as well. However, the award goes to No.8 Jeandré Rudolph, who was a beast in all areas of the match. He also got a brace and his strength in the physical exchanges was something to behold.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Van Wyk, Skosan
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 3
For Bulls:
Tries: Van Zyl, Burger 2, Manjezi, Rudolph 2
Cons: Chamberlain 6
Pens: Chamberlain 2
Yellow cards: Zain Davids (WP, 9′ – repeated infringements, slowing the ball down); Gary Porter (WP, 26′ – repeated infringements, collapsing the maul); Alex Groves (WP, 29′ – repeated infringements, collapsing the maul); Christ Smit (Bulls, 38′ – cynical play, offside)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Shilton van Wyk, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Luke Burger, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Quewin Nortje, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Asad Moos, 8 De Wet Marais, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Zain Davids (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Cabous Eloff, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Arno Gustafson, 19 Carlo van Greunen, 20 Erhard Lambrecht, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Sako Makata, 23 Tristan Leyds.
Bulls: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Katlego Letebele, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schurmann, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Dylan de Leeuw, 21 Steven Nel, 22 PA van Niekerk, 23 Marco Ferreira
Referee: Sean Muller (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Charlwin Daries (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)
