Bonus point Bulls bash Cheetahs in Bloem

The match came close to being called off in the 55th minute as the stadium lights went out. Officials could only manage to get some of the lights back on but the game resumed with reduced lighting.

 

The scoreline might sound like a drubbing, but the Cheetahs were good until the very end, losing by a rather twisted scoreline.

 

It was a fast-moving match full of excitement without much between the sides.

 

A few missed tackles and unsure handling at times prevented it from being a really great match, but the signs were there that the Cheetahs will not be easy to beat this year.

 

As for the Bulls, they showed that they will again be up there with the best - and there is little doubt that their scrum has improved.

 

They more than held their own against a formidable Cheetahs front row with Gurthro Steenkamp showing he wants to make up for his disappointing year-end Springbok tour.

 

With three minutes to go, the visitors were awarded a penalty try after the Cheetahs scrum disintegrated on their own line to underline a good night's scrummaging.

 

The first half lead see-sawed until the 35th minute when the Bulls pulled away with a goal and then a penalty after wing Lionel Mapoe shocked the champions with a try only 20 seconds after the kick-off.

 

It followed a great angled Mapoe run and a good short pass by Meyer Bosman to exploit a mistake by Fourie du Preez from the match-start kick-off as Jongi Nokwe chased well.

 

The Bulls, in fact, had points scored against them from the next two restarts by the Cheetahs as well.

 

Fierce tackling by both sides in the tradition of the clashes between them marked the first 20 mistakes, and both sides tried to play it away from the pack when possible.

 

But the Bulls slowly started grinding their way up-field with centre Wynand Olivier regularly setting up good second-phase ball in midfield.

 

He was deservedly named Man of the Match. The odd turnover by the Bulls and some slipped tackles among the good defence saw the visitors score two tries.

 

The first came when John Mametsa, starting in place of injured Francois Hougaard, did his bit before Jaco Pretorius, in his 50th Super 14 game, scored his first try of the competition.

 

Then it was Morne Steyn, on song with his kicking, who went through under the posts in what was an easy try. A penalty shortly before the break put them 10 points ahead at 23-13.

 

Immediately after the restart Naas Olivier got the Cheetahs back into touching distance with a penalty (23-16) before Wynand Olivier broke wide for the Bulls, straightened and then gave speedster Gerhard van den Heever a good ball.

 

His speed did the rest for a corner try.

 

Not to be outdone, however, Danie Rossouw put in a clever little kick.

 

The ball was booted on by Zane Kirchner who just pressed on it under the posts to get the Bulls their four-try bonus point (37-17) and it seemed all over for the home side.

 

But, as they did as the Free State in the Currie Cup, the Cheetahs fought back - first from a good passage of play and then a good forward drive, with captain Juan Smith scoring for Naas Olivier to convert, and then an outstanding piece of play.

 

First the Cheetahs ran, then they tightened with their forwards before taking it wide.

 

Nokwe was then cruelly denied by a great Deon Stegmann tackle in the first half, who did a balancing act at speed on the touch line and rounded it off.

 

At 37-31 the Cheetahs were back in it, but with the Bulls' Pierre Spies on his way to a try, the game was halted when the flood lights went off.

 

In the 15 minutes before that the two sides had added 32 points - including four tries.

 

Then Virtually from the restart under inferior lights, Wynand Olivier got a much deserved try from a good ruck ball, with the Cheetahs players on the outside bunching and leaving a wide gap (44-31), before the monster push-over scrum that ended in a penalty try.

 

Wynand Olivier won man of the match.

 

Final Score Cheetahs 34 (14)  Bulls 51 (23)

Scorers

Cheetahs
Tries - Lionel Mapoe, Juan Smith, Jongi Nokwe
Pen - Naas Olivier 6
Con - Naas Olivier 2
Drop -

Bulls
Tries - J Pretorius, M Steyn, van den Heever, Kirchner, Olivier, Penalty try 
Pen -  Morne Steyn 3
Con - Morne Steyn 5, Jacques-Louis Potgieter
Drop -

Match Officials
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (SA)
Ass. Refs: Marius Jonker (SA), Reuben Rossouw (SA)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)

Teams

Cheetahs : Riaan Viljoen, Lionel Mapoe, Corné Uys, Meyer Bosman, Jongi Nokwe, Naas Olivier, Tewis de Bruyn, Ashley Johnson, Juan Smith (captain), Heinrich Brüssow, David de Villiers, Nico Breedt, WP Nel, Adriaan Strauss, Wian du Preez.

Replacements: Ryno Barnes, Coenie Oosthuizen, Walti Vermeulen, Frans Viljoen, Sarel Pretorius, Sias Ebersohn, Danwel Demas.

Bulls :Zane Kirchner, Gerhard van den Heever, Jaco Pretorius, Wynand Olivier, Francois Hougaard, Morné Steyn, Fourie du Preez (v/c), Pierre Spies, Pedrie Wannenburg, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield (c), Danie Rossouw, Werner Kruger, Gary Botha, Gurthrö Steenkamp.

Replacements: Bandise Maku, Bees Roux, Flip vd Merwe, Derick Kuün, Heini Adams, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Stephan Dippenaar.