Blunder costs Stormers in Pretoria
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls edged the Stormers 34-29 in a hard-fought match in Pretoria, but it could have been a different ending if Juarno Augustus had not lost control of the ball over the Bulls’ tryline at the death.
With the full-time hooter already sounded and Stormers camped inside the Bulls’ 22, Augustus found some space in the Bulls defence to run in for a winning score. However, replays confirmed that the Stormers’ No.8 did not ground the ball, which gifted the Bulls the win.
The Bulls outscored their opponents by five tries to two in the match. However, it was the Stormers who were 20-14 in front at the break.
The first half saw a strong start by the home side before the visitors took firm control, only to concede some soft points near the half time hooter.
Fullback Richard Kriel raced through untouched for the home side in the opening minutes as they looked full of energy and purpose, taking advantage of some space with soft hands by his midfield pairing of Cornal Hendricks and Stedman Gans following front-foot momentum by the forwards.
The Cape side slowly but surely started to find their feet, mainly through their pack that seemed to have the upper hand in the tight phases.
They were also enjoying field position and territorial advantage, and flyhalf Kade Wolhuter’s penalty goal 20 minutes in was good reward.
The visiting backs were also having a blinder with Damian Willemse proving to be a menace in open space, with his probing runs testing the Bulls’ defence.
Stormers wing Leolin Zas, however, stole the show after 25 minutes of play with two first-half tries.
First he stepped inside Kriel and then dispatched a poor effort from Stedman Gans with a strong hand-off to score a good try, and he followed this up with a good break down the blind side by teammate Rikus Pretorius.
With the alarm bells sounding for the home side at half-time, they responded accordingly by opting for an attacking line-out after earning a breakdown penalty, and hooker Joe van Zyl was driven over, with Chris Smith’s conversion cut the lead to six points at the break.
The home side entered the second half determined with Kriel finding space from a line-out move with Marco Jansen van Vuren beating two defenders on his way to the tryline, and this saw the sides being separated by one point on the scoreboard.
Wolhuter extended it to four points three minutes later as the game started to open up, and Tim Swiel, who replaced Wolhuter, kicked a fourth penalty goal to earn them a seven-point lead.
Bulls flank Marco van Staden, however, cancelled this out as he ran strongly, with Ruan Nortje (lock) picking up and driving forward to score.
More drama followed with 10 minutes to go as the Bulls were awarded a penalty try with centre Ruhan Nel deemed to have slapped down a Hendricks pass with no other defenders left.
Veteran Springbok flyhalf Morné Steyn kicked a penalty goal with four minutes to play to extend the hosts’ lead to 34-26, but this was cancelled out as Stormers’ replacement flyhalf Tim Swiel kicked a penalty goal of his own with a minute left to play, leaving his side a converted try short of a remarkable win.
The visitors worked their way up the field and eventually over the tryline, only for Augustus to lose the ball.
Man of the match: Cornal Hendricks was outstanding again in the midfield for the Bulls. However, the award goes to Bulls flank Marco van Staden, who had a high work rate around the park. He was a nuisance at the breakdowns and carried the ball like a man possessed.
The scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: Kriel, Van Zyl, Jansen van Vuren, Nortje, Penalty Try
Cons: Smith 2
Pen: Steyn
For Stormers:
Tries: Zas 2
Cons: Wolhuter 2
Pens: Wolhuter 3, Swiel 2
Yellow cards: Ruhan Nel (Stormers, 72 – deliberate knockdown), Ruan Nortje (Bulls, 80 – cynical play)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Richard Kriel, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Werner Gouws, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Jan Uys, 20 Tim Agaba, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Diego Appollis.
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Siybonga Ntubeni, 17 Alister Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 John Schickerling, 20 Johan du Toit, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Tim Swiel.
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Morne Ferreira
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen
Photo by: speedshots.co.za
Additional source: SA Rugby
