Cheetahs outclass Bulls at Loftus
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The Cheetahs outplayed the Bulls 42-29 in a high-scoring affair at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls got off to a great start, as they looked to send off a number of departing players with a glorious Loftus Versfel victory, with an early try from Jesse Kriel.
That try seemed to galvanize the Cheetahs and the away-side upped the ante and replied with two tries of their own.
Neil Jordaan crossed for his first try in Super Rugby and loose forward partner Hencu Venter scored the Cheetahs second shortly after.
The Cheetahs were playing with their tails up and enjoyed plenty of possession in the Bulls half. Clayton Blommetjies added to the Cheetahs tally 34 minutes in when he took a flat pass and busted over for the Cheetahs third.
The away-side were camping on the Bulls line on the stroke of half-time and Sarel Pretorius eventually dived over under the poles for the bonus-point try to take the Cheetahs into half-time with a commanding lead.
The second-half saw the Cheetahs continue where they left-off and veteran Steven Sykes shrugged off two defenders and strolled over as the Cheetahs extended their lead.
Frans Ludeke rung the changes and set new life in the Bulls players.
Kriel bumped off a Cheetahs tackle and released Francois Hougaard down the wing to touch down for a five-pointer. Pierre Spies narrowed the deficit when he scored with 10 minutes left on the clock in his last game for the Bulls.
Ryno Benjamin squashed any hope for a Bulls revival when he scored the Cheetahs sixth try of the game in the corner.
Hougaard grabbed his second try for the Bulls on 78 minutes but it was only a consolation as the game was well and truly over.
More to follow…
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
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