More misery for Dragons as Bulls power away for win
BULLS................................55 DRAGONS.........................20
DRAGONS conceded eight tries as they were thumped 55-20 by the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday night.
Things looked ominous from the start and it took the hosts just four minutes to get their first score of the match. They got easy access to the Dragons’ 22 through ill-discipline – a theme in the first half – and made them pay when No.8 Arno Botha burrowed his way over from close range.
Chris Smith converted and clipped over a penalty five minutes later. A Dragons lineout went horribly wrong in the Bulls’ 22 and within seconds, Jordan Williams was getting isolated deep in his own half, giving Smith an easy shot at three points.
For the next 15 minutes, the Dragons contained their hosts and blew a handful of good opportunities in the Bulls’ red zone. Sam Davies got his side on the board after 24 minutes with a penalty when Gerhard Steenekamp wandered offside, but then came the onslaught.
After a good carry from hooker Johan Grobbelaar, the Dragons were sleeping around the fringes and Marcell Coetzee broke up the middle of the field from 30 metres out before popping to centre Lionel Mapoe, who strolled under the sticks.
Two minutes later, a Gonzalo Bertranou box-kick went loose and was scooped up by Embrose Papier, who broke clear up the near touchline before feeding Kurt-Lee Arendse on his inside for a simple try.
And the Bulls wrapped up the bonus point two minutes before the break. More ill-discipline gave the Bulls a dangerous position and hooker Grobbelaar was at the back of a maul that rumbled over the line and Smith nailed his fifth kick of the night.
But the Dragons did take something into the sheds. The Bulls wandered offside and Davies knocked it down into their 22. From the maul, Ollie Griffiths fed Bertranou, who sent it wide to Davies. The fly-half drifted off the pass before feeding it inside to Rio Dyer, who screeched through a hole in the Bulls defence to score.
Davies, though, missed the simple conversion and the South Africans led 31-8 at the break.
Dean Ryan’s side came flying out of the traps in the second half when Jared Rosser finished after an intercept from fly-half Davies.
But dangerman Arendse was in for his second just minutes later. The Dragons kicked loosely to him and he shook off one tackle before breaking into open field. The diminutive Bulls full-back then skinned Bertranou to score from 60 metres.
The Dragons weren’t going down quietly, though. In the 52nd minute, the ball squirted out the side of a breakdown and Jordan Williams sprinted up the near touchline before putting Davies over.
The hosts then hit back two minutes later when Marcel Coetzee burrowed his way under the posts from close range.
Mapoe added his second try of the match, with Zak Burger also crossing in the final quarter to compound the Dragons’ woes.
BULLS: Tries: Arno Botha (4), Lionel Mapoe (25, 64), Kurt-Lee Arendse
(27, 47), Johan Grobbelaar (37), Marcel Coetzee (55), Zak Burger (69) Cons: Chris Smith (5, 26, 28, 38, 55), Morne Steyn (70). Pens: Chris Smith (10)
DRAGONS: Tries: Rio Dyer (41), Jared Rosser (41), Sam Davies (52). Cons: Sam Davies (53). Pens: Sam Davies (23)