Bulls beat Cheetahs in Bloem
MATCH REPORT: The Blue Bulls put down a big marker when they beat the Cheetahs 34-12 in their Currie Cup opener at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
It was the home team who made their intentions known early in the match as wing Rabs Maxwane drew in the defence before offloading to hooker Joseph Dweba who crossed the whitewash. Former Blue Bulls pivot, Tian Schoeman, slotted the conversion for the Free Staters.
The men in blue eventually got themselves into the match as they applied pressure on their opponents and the dam wall was breached in the 13th minute as wing Jamba Ulengo passed to flyhalf Manie Libbok who dived under the posts to score a brilliant try that he converted.
Free State had to pull in their defence three minutes later as prop Ox Nche was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle and credit needs to be given to the men from Bloemfontein as they shut out the Blue Bulls to prevent any points from being leaked.
The match dissolved into a dull affair as neither team could break the deadlock but it was Free State who would be left scratching their heads at halftime as they enjoyed the majority of possession and territory but just could not convert that pressure into points.
The second half proved to be much better for both teams as they regularly bothered the scoreboard. Free State started the second half in the same fashion they did in the first half as scrumhalf Shaun Venter broke away from the back of a ruck and out sprinted the defence to score an unconverted try in the 41st minute.
The visitors continued to be nuisance on attack but were thwarted by Free State before opting to kick a penalty goal courtesy of Libbok.
The successful kick galvanised the Blue Bulls who were awarded a penalty try in the 55th minute due to Free State deliberately collapsing the maul.
Lock Justin Basson was shown a yellow card for the infringement and the home team were made to pay six minutes later as wing Jade Stiglingh capitalised on the one-man advantage to dot down in the corner.
It was the visitors who brought the curtain down on a hard fought match as fullback Divan Rossouw scored the bonus point try on the stroke of full time.
Man of the match: For Free State Cheetahs centre Nico Lee made some noteworthy breaks, while captain Oupa Mohoje was impressive at the breakdown. However, our nod goes to Blue Bulls young flyhalf Manie Libbok for his contribution with the boot.
The Scorers:
For Free State Cheetahs
Tries: Dweba, Fouché
Con: Schoeman
For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Libbok, Penalty try, Stighling, Rossouw
Cons: Libbok 3, penalty try dies not require a conversion
Pens: Libbok 2
Yellow card: Ox Nche (Cheetahs, 15 – Dangerous tackle), Justin Basson (Cheetahs, 59 – cynical foul)
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Oupa Mohoje (captain), 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacement: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Erich de Jager, 18 Günther Janse van Vuuren, 19 Dennis Visser, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Louis Fouché.
Blue Bulls: 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 JT Jackson, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conrad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Matthys Basson.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Hendre Stassen, 19 Jano Venter, 20 Theo Maree, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Earll Douwrie.
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze
TMO: Lourens van der Merwe
Source: SARugby
