Another Blue Monday at Loftus
Both teams must survive SA Conference derbies to snap losing streak
THEBulls, Lions and Blues’ frantic search for victory will continue into this week after all three sides started the Super Rugby season with consecutive losses.
A Grant Hattingh blunder cost the Bulls dearly in a 17-13 loss against the Hurricanes at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
His failure to adhere to the basic skill of transferring possession to the arm furthest from the nearest defender saw the former Western Province lock put a paw into touch momentarily before grounding what would have been the game-winning try.
“It was a tight contest going down to the wire and, in a contest like that, small margins make a huge difference,” said Bulls coach Frans Ludeke.
Captain Pierre Spies said the Bulls’ inability to capitalise when they had momentum on their side was a concern, but he was confident they would be able to bounce back when the Sharks visit Pretoria this Saturday.
“We are not converting pressure into points, what happened in the past two weeks is that we get into the right position and we make mistakes,” he said.
“That is something we need to work on, we believe we are doing the right things but we are not executing it well enough.
“We believe we are on the right track and the players know we need to step it up and hopefully next week we can get a better performance.”
It was the Sharks who handed the Lions their second straight defeat, beating the Joburg side 29-12 in rain-drenched Durban.
The Lions made the stronger start in the driving rain and flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff converted the first of four goal kicks that kept his side in the contest for most of the game.
But the hosts scored four tries with Springbok pivot Pat Lambie directing affairs.
The Lions’ chance to come back disappeared completely when, with four minutes to play, captain Warren Whiteley was sinbinned.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions – next up is the log-leading Stormers, who victimised the Blues in Cape Town. The winless Aucklanders will be in Bloemfontein to battle the Cheetahs on Friday night.
The Cheetahs spent round two on a bye, which gave them an extra week to watch clips of their season-opening win against the Sharks in Durban.
The Waratahs are off this week, and they too will be feeling chipper after bouncing back to clinch their first win of the year, beating the Rebels 38-28 in an eight-try thriller in Melbourne on Friday.
Both teams scored four tries each but it was the boot of Waratahs flyhalf Bernard Foley which proved decisive, as he landed three conversions and three penalties for the defending champions.
“We earned our way through some oldfashioned grunt,” Waratahs coach Michael Cheika said.
Kurtley Beale played a key role in attack, setting up a try and then scoring himself in the 73rd minute when the teams were deadlocked at 28-28.
“Credit to the Tahs, they hung in there at the back end of the match,” said Rebels captain Scott Higginbotham.
Melbourne is the venue for Saturday morning’s Australian derby against the visiting Brumbies.
In the first game of round two, Stephen Larkham’s team lost out to the Chiefs, with All Blacks flyhalf Aaron Cruden slotting a game-winning penalty to beat the Brumbies 19-17.
In the two remaining matches on Saturday, fullback Colin Slade kicked 16 points as the Crusaders put the Highlanders to the sword in Dunedin before the Reds shrugged off a cyclone, and the late withdrawal of flyhalf James O’Conner, to subdue the Western Force 18-6 in Brisbane. – Sports Staff