Cheetahs outclass Bulls at Loftus
Comments
0
The Cheetahs won a Super Rugby match in Pretoria for the first time with a six-try 42-29 triumph on Saturday over a Bulls side suffering their fifth consecutive loss.
The final round match in the regular season had an end-of-campaign feel to it with neither team in contention for a top-six finish and a play-offs place.
Underdogs Cheetahs recovered from conceding an early try to score four, secure a bonus point and lead 28-10 by half-time at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
A try by Bulls skipper and No.8 Pierre Spies narrowed the gap to 11 points with 10 minutes to play before a small crowd in chilly early winter conditions.
But any hopes of a dramatic come-from-behind victory for the hosts were dashed just three minutes later.
Replacement Oupa Mohoje, a Springbok loose forward who came off the bench for his first appearance after a long injury absence, burst down the middle.
The momentum was continued by several other Cheetahs in a side prepared to run from any position and centre Rayno Benjamin scored in the corner.
Flyhalf Niel Marais added the extra points for a perfect six-from-six conversions record in only his second start for the Bloemfontein outfit.
Cheetahs other try-scorers were No.8 Niell Jordaan, flank Henco Venter, wing Clayton Blommetjies, scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius and replacement lock Steven Sykes.
Diminutive Pretorius, who is moving to Welsh side Newport Dragons, gave another outstanding performance full of sniping runs and clever passes.
Japan-bound wing Francois Hougaard scored two tries for the Bulls and fullback Jesse Kriel and Spies one each.
Flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter slotted one conversion and one penalty and his replacement, Tian Schoeman, kicked two conversions for the three-time champions.
Bulls finished a disappointing ninth after seven victories and nine defeats while Cheetahs ended 12th with five wins and 11 losses.
Man of the match: Jesse Kriel was by far the Bulls most dangerous player and Francois Hougaard scored a double. Pierre Spies was valiant with carries in his last game at Loftus. For the Cheetahs Ryno Benjamin was evasive on the wing but the tireless Hencu Venter was all over the field, carrying on attack and making 14 tackles on defence. He was a thorn in the breakdown for the Bulls and he scored a try.
The scorers:
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Jordaan, Venter, Blommetjies, Pretorius, Sykes, Benjamin
Cons: Marais 6
For the Bulls:
Tries: Kriel, Hougaard, Spies
Cons: Potgieter, Schoeman
Pen: Potgieter
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Morné Mellett.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Roelof Smit, 20 Bjorn Basson, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Jurgen Visser, 23 Werner Kruger.
Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Burrie Uys.
Replacements: 16 Elandré Huggett, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Teboho Mohoje, 22 Renier Botha, 23 Coenie van Wyk.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Ben Crouse
TMO: Willie Vos
ADVERTISEMENT
