Bulls rally in scappy game

The Bulls piled on the early pressure and after a relatively simple miss at goals Jantjies finally made it 3-0 after six minutes from a penalty right in front.

 

However it did not take the Kings long to strike back as the ball was put through the hands brilliantly to end up in Shane Gates' hands who dived over for the try to make it 5-3 after eight minutes.

 

A typical Bulls try followed as a driving maul was set from a line-out more than 10 metres out, the Bulls structured well and drove the distance with Stegmann in possession to get the try making it 8-5 with the conversion sliding wide after 16 minutes. 

 

The Bulls overall dominance was rewarded again, but only through three points, when Jantjies added an easy penalty for the Bulls to push the lead out to 11-5 after 27 minutes.

 

As the half drew to an end the Kings had a chance to keep in touch when Deon Stegmann infringed at the breakdown, Van Breda struck it will to bring the deficient down to only three points with three minutes left in the half.

 

At the half-time break the Bulls led over the Kings by 11-8, but it reality it should have been more with the home team dominating all facets of the game.

 

The scrappy nature of the game was not helping, handling from both teams was poor and the decision making even poorer at the half-time hooter.

 

It was the Kings who came out firing as Kevin Luiters sparked a resurgence, his sniping runs saw the Kings into 22 but it was the loosehead prop Lizo Gqoboka's snipe at the fringe that saw him run the 20 metres untouched to score the try which Van Breda converted to give the Kings a 15-11 lead after 43 minutes.

 

The Bulls suffered another blow soon after that try as Tony Jantjies saw yellow for throwing the ball away foolishly.

 

With the Kings building momentum, and the Bulls a man down, Van Breda lined up for the posts and struck the penalty well to push the lead out to seven on 50 minutes.

 

The Kings finally pushed their luck to far after the visitors were put on a general warning, Mike van Vuuren receiving the yellow after not rolling away in time.

 

This gave a chance for Akona Ndungane to score a try out wide after the forwards sucked in the Kings defence on the otherside of the field. Kriel stepped up for his first kick from a tough angle but it was a shocker as the score remained 18-16 after 57 minutes.

 

Ndungane got his second try soon after his first when the ball was sent out to his wing with some speed allowing the wing to step inside and score. Jantjies made it 23-18 with a well-struck conversion.

 

Kriel showed some silky running as he showed-and-went right through the defensive line to score his first try in the Currie Cup with Jantjies making it 30-18 after 64 minutes.

 

Straight off the kick off the ball was knocked into Mike van Vuuren's hands, back after his yellow, allowing him to ride some tackles to get over the line for a quick response, Van Breda making it a five point game with 14 minutes to go.

 

The Bulls would hold on to those five points as the Kings looked dejected to claim their first win of the tournament.