Bulls trample hapless Griquas to go back top

CURRIE CUP MATCH REPORT: The Bulls reclaimed first place on the standings, doing a demolition job on a hapless Griquas team to win 56-33 at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday.

The eight tries to three win saw the Bulls overtake the Sharks at the top.

The Durban franchise conceded their match to the Pumas earlier in the day – the result of an outbreak of COVID-19 that left the Sharks unable to field a team.

With both teams coming off defeats and the winner set to unseat the COVID-hit Durbanites as the No.1 team, there was ample motivation.

Schalk Erasmus and Kurt-Lee Arendse headlined the try-scoring with a brace apiece – as the defending champions pulled clear after a gutsy, injury-ravaged Griquas side ran out of steam in the final quarter.

The Bulls conceded a yellow card in each half, yet on both occasions, they handily outscored their opponents despite being a man down.

That summed up the defensive woes of the visitors, who were also dominated in the scrums and worn down by the hosts’ powerful driving maul.

Griquas got off to a strong start, dominating possession and leading 6-0 after seven minutes, George Whitehead punishing the Bulls who’d conceded a string of penalties.

Mornay Smith was yellow-carded in the ninth minute for a no-arms tackle on Cameron Lindsay.

The visitors attacked but a vital turnover by Elrigh Louw staved off the danger.

The Pretoria outfit finally got some possession and made it count as they mauled it up and won a penalty, which allowed Johan Goosen to open their account against the grain in the 13th minute.

Goosen was in for a seven-pointer moments later after halfback partner Zak Burger had charged down Whitehead’s kick. The Griquas No 10 recovered the ball but threw a reckless pass that was picked off by his opposite number for a simple score.

Smith re-entered the fray with his team having scored 10 unanswered points in his absence, an ironic turnaround based as much on the Bulls waking up as the Peacock Blues being lackadaisical on defence.

The lead ballooned to 20-6 as Erasmus powered over from close range before Arendse rounded off an excellent end-to-end attacking sequence.

Whitehead slotted his third penalty in the 35th minute and as the half-time hooter sounded, Griquas struck a timely blow as Chris Hollis made a great break before Stefan Ungerer snuck over in the right-hand corner. Whitehead’s terrific touchline conversion pulled them back to 20-16 as the sides headed into the sheds.

It turned into a one-point game two minutes into the second half as replacement prop Erich de Jager won a textbook breakdown penalty for his pivot to pop over.

The Bulls hit back right away with the men from the Northern Cape again letting in a soft try as the towering Walt Steenkamp touched down. Goosen kicked the conversion and a penalty goal soon thereafter to give the home team breathing room again at 30-19 after 51 minutes.

Then came a double blow as Arendse saw yellow and cost his team a penalty try for deliberately knocking down Ungerer’s pass with the visitors having a two-man overlap and an open try line.

At 30-26, it was game on but the yellow card ‘curse’ continued for Griquas as the 14-man hosts struck twice.

First Louw sliced clean through with a brilliant line and perfectly-timed run and then Erasmus peeled off the back of a driving maul to go over for his brace. Goosen converted both to put the hosts in a commanding 44-26 lead with 12 minutes left.

Not content, they scored two more tries against the fatigued visitors, replacement front row forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels barging over for his first Currie Cup five-pointer and Arendse grabbing his second of the match.

Replacement hooker Janco Uys scored a well-taken but consolation try for Griquas, who came away empty-handed as the men from Pretoria moved into pole position.

The scorers

For the Bulls
Tries: Goosen, Erasmus 2, Arendse 2, Steenkamp, Louw, Wessels
Cons: Goosen 4, Smith
Pens: Goosen 2

For Griquas
Tries: Ungerer, Penalty try, Uys
Cons: Whitehead 2, penalty try does no require a conversion
Pens: Whitehead 4

Yellow card: Mornay Smith (Bulls, 10 – foul play, dangerous tackle), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls, 54 – cynical foul, slapping the ball down with a clear overlap)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Muller Uys, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Stedman Gans.

Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Hanru Sirgel, 7 Luyolo Dapula, 6 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Nqobisizwe Mxoli.
Replacements – from: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Jeandré Leonard, 20 Gideon van der Merwe, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Andre Swarts, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Andrew Beerwinkel, 25 Johan Momsen, 26 Theo Boshoff.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Egon Seconds

* Picture credit: Johan Rynners