Bulls hammer Lions to make major URC statement

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls laid down a dominant statement in Gauteng, thrashing the Lions 57-15 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship Round Three derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The hosts ran in eight tries to the Lions’ two, delivering a commanding all-round performance to underline their superiority.

Early on it seemed like the Bulls had made better use of possession and it resulted in Harold Vorster scoring the first try in the 10th minute.

This came after Canan Moodie made good metres before he lost the ball but Curwin Bosch’ clearance kicks kept the Bulls on the front foot as they built momentum.

But the Lions hit back through a good touch finder by Chris Smith that landed five metres from the tryline, setting up an attacking opportunity for the visitors.

Francke Horn took it cleanly, but then Smith was shut down, however the Bulls were penalised for collapsing.

They opted for another lineout, and the Bulls were in defense mode. This time it went to Dylan Sjoblom, they recycled and again the Bulls were penalised for hands in the ruck.

The Bulls were resolute on defense to disrupt the Lions at the breakdown, but they weren’t out of the woods yet as they conceded the feed-in with a handling error.

The Lions persevered to setup another rolling maul to suck in the defense for Siba Qoma to break away on the blindside and crash over in the corner.

The extreme heat appeared to make the ball slippery, with both sides struggling to hold on to the final pass.

It was a close match-up as they headed into the first 30, but the Lions had used their territorial advantage better.

But then Moodie had a brilliant run out wide, passed to Paul de Wet who nearly made it to the tryline, but he was hauled in. He got rid of the ball, and it was picked up by Johan Grobbelaar who scored.

Morne van den Berg got his marching orders for a deliberate knock-down after he assisted Quan Horn in bringing down De Wet.

And the time the scrumhalf was off the field, was very damaging to the Lions, conceding two tries during his absence.

With the No.9 on the sideline, the Bulls went into overdrive. Jeandre Rudolph turned it over in a ruck, Willie le Roux put through a great kick down field, and as the Bulls followed up, Sebastian de Klerk collected and passed to Cameron Hanekom who scored.

When Rudolph played the ball on the ground in the next passage of play, Smith slotted a penalty to reduce the deficit to 10-19.

Immediately thereafter Hanekom scored his second, receiving a short pop from Hanro Liebenberg and in the process bumped off Richard Kriel with ease and a smile.

Heading into halftime, the Bulls were in the driving seat by 24-10.

The Bulls were running amok at this stage, winning the collision to get quick recycle of the ball. This resulted in another try by the men in blue, which Bosch converted to head to the sheds leading 31-10.

The Bulls’ attack came out wide and that caught the Lions in sixes and sevens to try and plug the holes.

The Lions’ woes continued early in the second half. Conceding a penalty for offside, Bosch sent it to the corner. From the lineout, they spread it wide quickly and Moodie got over, once again catching the Lions unawares in the trams.

Siba Mahashe, fresh on the field in the place of JC Pretorius, got up to compete in the air with Moodie, and the Bulls wing came down hard.

After an intense discussion between the referee and the TMO, it was decided that it was not foul play and he got off without even a warning, and a scrum was called.

The Lions strung together their first attack in midfield, getting Ethan Evans and Henco van Wyk involved and crossed the advantage line with intent.

When De Klerk was penalised for a high tackle, the Lions pounced and Morne Brandon was the man who got over to score their second try.

Silly mistakes by the Bulls gave the Lions chances on a silver platter. There was 30 minutes left, could the Lions fight back?

Tempers flared and Mahashe was the culprit. A penalty to the Lions was turned around and Bosch could clear for touch.

The Bulls conceded a penalty for hands on the ground at the breakdown and the Lions kicked for a 22m for the throw-in. The Bulls pulled the ball from the lineout, and it was kicked the ball far downfield.

From there the home side marched forward, it got distributed to Handre Pollard, on for Bosch, who sent a kick pass into the hands of Cheswill Jooste to score without being touched.

A call from the TMO indicated that there was obstruction and the try was scratched off.

The Bulls were back on the charge, with immaculate handling allowing them to launch wave after wave of attack. Grobbelaar came close to crossing the line, but it was JF van Heerden who eventually powered his way over.

The Lions lose the ball forward in the tackle then concede the penalty at the scrum and the Bulls can look to turn the screws here.

Alas, there was no fightback left in the tank of the Lions. Williams got the try he missed out of after the Lions lost the ball in the tackle, conceded a penalty at the scrum, allowing the Bulls to turn the screws even more.

With seconds left, the Bulls were barging towards the tryline once more.

De Klerk got over just as the hooter went.

Player of the Match: Cameron Hanekom – the Springbok has the pedigree and he didn’t disappoint. Not just for his two tries, but also his nonchalant hand-off of Richard Kriel without a second thought. He was class.

The scorers:

For Bulls:
Tries: Vorster, Hanekom 2, Rudolph, Moodie, Van Heerden, Williams, De Klerk
Cons: Bosch 3, Pollard 3

For Lions:
Tries: Qoma, Brandon
Cons: Smith
Pens: Smith

Yellow card: Morne van den Berg (Lions – 26’ deliberate knock-down)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 6 Jeandre Rudolph, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Cheswill Jooste

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Ethan Adams, 12 Henco van Wyk, 11 Richard Kriel, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horne (captain), 7 Siba Qoma, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Sebastian Lombard, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Siba Mahashe, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Boeta Chamberlain.

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Jonathan Lottering (South Africa)
TMO: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)