A terrible case of déjà vu for WP

BLUE BULLS WESTERN PROVINCE (24) 45 (0) 26 JUST under a year ago, Western Province were pumped by their old enemy, the Blue Bulls, in a Currie Cup Premier Division match at Loftus Versfeld.

It was a 47- 29 defeat that left a bitter taste in the WP supporters’ mouth after they had dominated the Bulls in the last couple of years before that match.

Province delivered an error- strewn display on that Saturday night. They were terrible at the breakdown. They couldn’t tackle and they conceded possession with almost every carry.

The Bulls, on the other hand, were ruthless at the tackle situation, while they punished WP’s mistakes with simple handling and decision- making.

And history would repeat itself last night, as WP suffered a terrible case of déjà vu against the Bulls in Pretoria. Not only was the scoreline similar to last year’s match, but the way the encounter panned out was almost identical.

WP were dreadful in the first half last night, as they made too many mistakes with ball- in- hand, while their kicking game was even worse. There were plenty of aimless kicks down field, while they also kicked balls directly into touch.

They didn’t clean the breakdowns properly, allowing the Bulls to slow down their possession and steal their ball. And when the Bulls managed to get possession, they ran through Province’s flimsy defence almost untouched.

Bulls flyhalf Tian Schoeman gave his team an early 3- 0 lead when WP were pinned for offside. But the fireworks started in the 19th minute when Bulls scrumhalf Piet van Zyl scored after a lightning counter- attack from their own half.

A few minutes later the hosts found themselves 17- 0 up when lock Jason Jen- kins darted through the WP defence following a quick lineout.

The Bulls went into the break 24- 0 up when another attack led to second- row forward Marvin Orie scoring.

At that point, it looked as if the floodgates were about to burst open.

The Bulls were 38- 0 ahead by the 54th minute after Jade Stiglingh went through the Province defence and showed impressive pace to score, before Jamba Ulengo profited from a great kick on the run by fullback Bjorn Basson.

Province finally came to life after their coach John Dobson cleared the bench on the hour. And they scored their first points in the 62nd minute when replacement centre Johnny Kotze went over.

The visitors hit a purple patch in the last 10 minutes. Their replacements upped the tempo, although it was clear that Bulls had already taken their foot off of the pedal.

Left wing Leolin Zas scored in the 70th minute after the showing commitment to grab a grubber kick and dot down. WP’s try of the match came soon after the restart when Huw Jones scored a brilliant individual effort.

Replacement flyhalf Brandon Thomson passed inside to Scottish international Jones, who showed good pace and a lovely swerve before crossing the tryline.

Province then clinched a bonus point three minutes from the end when fullback Scott van Breda rounded off another flowing move.

However, it was only fitting that the Bulls had the last say in the match when Basson rounded off another counter- attack. Scorers Blue Bulls – Tries: Piet van Zyl, Jason Jenkins, Marvin Orie, Jade Stiglingh, Jamba Ulengo, Bjorn Basson. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (6). Penalty: Schoeman. Western Province – Tries: Johnny Kotze, Leolin Zas, Huw Jones, Scott van Breda. Conversions: Brandon Thomson (3).