Blue Bulls trample meek Leopards
The Blue Bulls gave themselves the best possible chance of qualifying for the Currie Cup semifinals as they ran riot at Loftus Versfeld, scoring 14 tries against the Leopards on their way to a resounding 92-21 victory.
The Men from Pretoria knew that they needed to take a healthy points difference advantage from this clash with the log bottom dwellers and their intent was obvious from the outset as they threw the ball around, going hell for leather from the first whistle.
The hosts wasted no time in racking up the points and were going at a point-a-minute in the first half. Tries from Akona Ndungane, CJ Stander, Jano Vermaak, Francois Venter and Juandre Kruger in the opening half-hour of the match set the tone as both sides went for broke in an entertaining display.
Defence did not seem to be much of a priority for either team and there was plenty of space for the attacking runners to exploit. To their credit the Leopards had a fair go at the tryline themselves and were rewarded with three well-taken seven-pointers, two of them within minutes of the break, to make the half-time score 35-21 to the home team.
The Blue Bulls had a determined look about them when they came out of the changerooms after half-time and they continued to pile the pressure on the Leopards resistance which was fading fast.
The team from Potchefstroom started to look quite demoralised and fell off their tackles quite badly as the Blue Bulls ran them ragged. Speedy wing Bjorn Basson made merry with all of the space available, running in a second-half hat-trick in what became some serious one-way traffic.
The Blue Bulls’ hunger did not fade as they sought to maximise the points differential, and they kept their foot on the gas right until the final whistle. Having done all they could to make it through to the play-offs they will watch the matches tomorrow hopeful that the Pumas can do them a massive favour when they take on a Western Province outfit littered with Springbok stars at Newlands.
Man of the match: It may seem odd to give the man of the match award to a player who did not score a try in a one-sided affair such as this but the contribution of Blue Bulls flank Jacques Potgieter was that impressive. He got his team on the front foot time and again with his tireless running and looks to be a real star of the future for the Pretoria side.
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Ndungane, Stander 2, Vermaak, Venter, Kruger 2, Basson 3, Penalty try, A Botha, G Botha, Brummer
Cons: Fouche 11
For the Leopards:
Tries: Dunlop, Engelbrecht, Maritz
Cons: Dunlop 3
The teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling. Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Jurgen Visser.
Leopards: 15 Hofmann Maritz, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Charl Weideman, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht (captain), 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Johann Laker, 8 Robert Kruger, 7 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 6 Philip de Wet, 5 Brendon Snyman, 4 Brad Mockford, 3 Dewald Coetzee, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Jean-Jacques Rossouw.
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Buhle Mxunyelwa, 18 Bêrend Botha, 19 Spanner Pretorius, 20 George Tossel, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Jovan Bowles.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Joey Salmans, Attie Buitendag
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee
