Matfield leads Bulls to perfect win against gutsy Sharks

At Loftus Versfeld WHEN Victor Matfield delivers, the Bulls follow suit.

They claimed their first win of the season last night in a tightly contested affair.

Matfield and senior players shed the early-season rust and led the side to their first victory of the season, 43-35, over the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld.

Against the Hurricanes last week, the Bulls experienced woe in the lineout, with Matfield unfamiliarly losing the ball off their throws.

Perhaps the veteran 37-yearold incumbent Bok No 5 lock being up against 22-year-old Pieter-Steph du Toit — the biggest threat to his place in the national team — saw Matfield produce his best showing so far in this year’s campaign.

Matfield’s performance brought irritation to the Sharks, an agitated Bismarck du Plessis reacting to a tussle in the ruck by striking Matfield in the face twice. The Sharks captain must count himself fortunate not to have received a card from referee Jaco van Heerden.

The Bulls’ scrum, which has struggled this season, was not severely tested last night. There was only one scrum battle in the first half that resulted in the Sharks being penalised. It was the same scenario in the second half, but the roles were reversed when the Bulls were penalised.

Scrumhalf Rudy Paige provided some needed urgency, feeding his backline with quick ball, something the Pretoria side has lacked in the past two weeks when Piet van Zyl was the starting No 9.

Both Springbok flyhalf candidates, the Bulls’ Handre Pollard and Patrick Lambie of the Sharks, were on audition. They kept the scoreboard ticking in the early stages, with Pollard getting the upper hand as he struck more balls and collected more points in the first half.

Lambie was the boot champion in the end after slotting nine kicks to Pollard’s seven.

Bulls replacement and debutant Tian Schoeman landed two kicks.

After the battle that saw the Bulls take a 9-6 lead after 25 minutes, the home side scored the first try.

Lively fullback Jesse Kriel went on a trademark run through the Sharks defence before offloading to winger Francois Hougaard, who ran 22 metres to score.

The visitors fought back and were rewarded. Swift hands from fullback SP Marais to winger Odwa Ndungane, who made the last pass to Ryan Kankowski to dash for the posts. The conversion from Lambie levelled the scores at 16-all.

One last push by the Bulls saw flanker Deon Stegmann scoring a try, the team from Loftus going into the break 23-16 ahead.

Jan Serfontein and Pierre Spies added five-pointers for the Bulls to seal the win, while scrumhalf Cobus Reinach scored the Sharks’ second try.

The Bulls will be relieved of some pressure but will hope to continue collecting points.