Lions crush Bulls to stay unbeaten in Currie Cup

MATCH REPORT: The Lions clinched a convincing 42-19 victory over the Bulls at the UJ Stadium on Saturday to stay unbeaten in the Currie Cup.

This leaves the Bulls still in search of their first win in the competition.

After relentless pressure from the Lions, showing physicality, captain Ruan Delport grabbed his first try of the season and opened the Lions’ account in the 10th minute, converted by Sam Francis.

Immediately thereafter the Bulls lost their captain Nicholas Janse van Rensburg, seeming to nurse an ankle injury. He was replaced by Abongile Nonkontwana.

Six minutes later the home side did so again, this time it was Conraad van Vuuren who crossed. It came from a penalty at scrum time.

The conversion hit the upright but was over and the Lions stretched their lead to 14-0.

In the early stages of the game, the Lions’ slick handling allowed them to cross the advantage line numerous times, while the Bulls were left to defend.

In these exchanges prop Morgan Naude played a huge role, often finding himself taking the ball up in midfield.

When the Lions had another attacking opportunity, the Bulls needed to find a way to stop leaking penalties. But they caught a break as the Lions lost the ball forward.

Heading into the last quarter, the Lions were camped out in the Bulls red zone, and when Francis sent another kick into the corner, points were begging.

The pack drove forward to within five metres. Morne Venter was the incumbent who managed to worm his way over the whitewash.

When the flags were raised for the conversion, the Lions took their lead to 21-0.

The Bulls were in sixes and sevens, and their handling errors were mounting, as were their indiscretions.

This resulted in the Lions getting their fourth bonus point try after half an hour of play, this time by Mahle Sithole. Francis clocked the conversion.

Trailing by 0-28 the Bulls had a mountain to climb.

When the Lions’ Jarod Cairns got his marching orders for a high tackle in the 39th minute, the Bulls had the first real opportunity to possibly score.

They opted for a tap to go close to the line, they were held up over the line and the end of the first half was signaled.
The Lions carried on where they left off in the first half, scoring within a minute of the second half kick-off.

It was more of the same from the men from Johannesburg, punishing the Bulls at every opportunity.

The Bulls finally grabbed their first try in the 52nd minute of the game as their pack rumbled forward and Kebotile Maake was the player who got over.

But the Lions immediately got into striking distance from a line-out.

The Lions nearly scored again on the stroke of an hour, but the Bulls survived that onslaught.

At last, the Bulls found their way to the try-line with a well-worked maul that got their tails up for Devon Wiliams to score the try from close range.

This was followed up by a try five minutes later by Asas Moos for the Lions.

The Bulls seemed to have found their groove as Riyaad Bam crossed for their third try.

With just a little over five minutes to go, the Lions were leading 42-19.

When Delport’s yellow card was upgraded to red, the Bulls had a small window of opportunity, but the score was likely too big to chase.

Scorers:

For Lions:
Tries: Delport, Van Vuuren, Venter, Sithole, Sjoblom, Moos
Cons: Francis 5

For Bulls:
Tries: Maake, Williams, Bam
Cons: Johannes 2

Yellow card: Sintu Manjezi (Bulls; 32’ for cynical play); Jarod Cairns (Lions – 39’ high tackle); Ruan Delport (Lions, 70’)

Teams

Lions: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Keagan Smith, 13 Likhona Finca, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Morne Venter, 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 Thando Biyela, 5 Ruan Delport (captain), 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Mahle Sithole, 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 Ruan Welman, 17 Cecil Parsons, 18 Ruan Swart, 19 Marco Ferreira, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Zian Cilliers, 22 Matthew Coetzee, 23 Exauce Kevani.

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Riyaad Bam, 13 Hakeem Kunene, 12 Christiaan Viok, 11 Lindsey Jansen, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Hendre Schoeman, 8 Thomas Beling, 7 Heinrich Theron, 6 Kebotile Maake, 5 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (captain), 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Dian Coetzee, 2 Jaundre Schoeman, 1 Damian Baker.
Replacements: 16 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Johnathan Eloff, 20 Abongile Nonkontwana, 21 Cephas van Biljon, 22 Aka Boqwane, 23 Lavela Pongolo

Referee: Juan de Bod