Bulls back to winning ways with victory over Kings
Bulls . . . . . . . . . . . . . (28) 49
Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . (25) 35
THE Blue Bulls returned to winning ways at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria last night when they scored a hard-fought win against the EP Kings in round three of the Currie Cup.
After going down to the Cheetahs last week, the Bulls ran in seven tries to down the men from the Eastern Cape, but it was a far from convincing performance from Nollis Marais’s men.
The Bulls allowed the visitors to score five tries in what will go down as one of the better performances of the Kings in recent times.
But, as has been the case for some time now, the Kings’ defence let them down at crucial times and they seemed to run out of steam in the latter stages of the match.
The Kings made a dream start, scoring two converted tries in the opening five minutes, hooker Michael Willemse and centre Berton Klaasen crossing the whitewash.
The Bulls hit back almost immediately when flyhalf Tian Schoeman – who was man of the match and who enjoyed a wonderful evening with the boot as he converted all his team’s tries – went over for a try. He was soon followed by wing Jamba Ulengo.
Flank Jannes Kirsten and wing Bjorn Basson then also scored tries for the home team to put the Bulls in charge.
However, a third try for the Kings, this time by Namibian international fullback Johan Tromp on the stroke of halftime, closed the gap to three points and ensured that there was not much between the sides at the interval.
And when Kings wing Siviwe Soyizwapi ran a great line to power his way over the tryline soon after the resumption of play, the Bulls were all of a sudden on the back foot and trailing 28-30.
But one always sensed the home team had an extra gear to move into and they duly did so as the game entered the final quarter, Burger Odendaal and Ulengo scoring further tries.
Former Bulls player Martin Bezuidenhout pulled one back for the visitors when he crossed with 13 minutes to go to make it a seven-point game, but the Bulls sealed the deal in the 71st minute when replacement back Joshua Stander scored his side’s seventh try.
Both teams made numerous errors and were poor defensively, but for the Bulls it was a much-needed victory. The Kings at least bagged a try-scoring bonus point.
In Cape Town, the unbeaten and in-form Cheetahs beat Western Province 32-25, with flyhalf Fred Zeilinga starring with the boot.
In the final match of the third round today, the Lions are in Kimberley to play the Griquas after registering a bonuspoint win against the Pumas last weekend.