Bulls charge past Lions
Visitors punished for mistakes by workmanlike Pretoria team
THE noisy neighbours came to Loftus on the back of Currie Cup success here last year and a flying start to Super Rugby this year. But there was nothing boisterous about their performance last night.
The Bulls recorded their first Super Rugby win of the season with a workmanlike performance in difficult conditions, while the Lions will lament not reproducing the form that saw them winning their first two games of the campaign.
Light, persistent rain made for unsure handling and footing and it was the Lions who struggled to find a foothold as their game was blighted by imprecision, reflected in their poor ball retention.
Much was made of the return to the starting line-up of lock Victor Matfield in the build-up but it was flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who had been leading an itinerant existence for the past five years, who stole the show.
Potgieter, who has just returned following stints at Bayonne and Dax in France, masterfully pulled the strings behind a pack in the ascendancy and his 20-point haul tells just half the story.
He and scrumhalf Francois Hougaard ensured the Bulls held a distinct advantage in the territory stakes. Hougaard is beginning to resemble the player who became a Springbok in 2009 with an assured and assertive performance. He did, however, present Willie Wepener the second of two Lions’ charge-down tries in the closing minutes.
That the Lions were still in the contest at the break is testament to their improved structure on defence, in no small part due to the efforts of their coaches and Saru’s Mobi Unit.
They did spend the middle part of last week’s victory against the Stormers absorbing pressure, but the Bulls were unrelenting and Potgieter punished them for their errant ways.
The Bulls operated from a simple template. They kicked judiciously, were solid enough in the scrums, while their lineout provided the platform to unleash the hard running of Jacques du Plessis. He didn’t always make it over the gain line but he kept coming.
Matfield delivered a rangy presence in the lineout but he was also spotted rubbing shoulders with the outside backs, another long-held habit.
The Bulls recorded two early penalties but undid all their hard work when Stefan Watermeyer charged down Jurgen Visser’s clearance.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter stole the show, despite the return of Victor Matfield
The Bulls however continued to dominate but their next score was tinged with irony. With the hosts on the attack, the Lions turned over possession, kicked into space before Akona Ndungane diffused the situation by getting to the ball first.
From a ruck the Bulls put Bjorn Basson into space and he flipped an inside pass to Jan Serfontein.
They didn’t score another but that would have mattered little in the afterglow of victory.