Staff Reporter.
The Vodacom Bulls made it back-to-back wins over the Emirates Lions as they beat them 21-13 in the return Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls never got their bonus point though as the wet underfoot made the game scrappy and difficult. but it meant the Bulls moved up the URC ladder after a poor start to the season.
Be that as it may, the Lions started brightly as they controlled the early exchanges. Ill-discipline and poor handling were at the forefront of the Bulls’ efforts during the same period, allowing the visitors to take a six-point lead via the boot of Tiaan Swanepoel.
The Bulls soon cleaned up their act and ran in two tries – by forwards Marcell Coetzee and Johan Grobbelaar – to log a 14-6 lead at the break.
One of the Lions’ strenghts was their scrummaging, which won them several penalties in the first half, but the moment both teams made changes to their respective front rows, the set-piece momentum shifted the way of the Bulls.
Growing in confidence, the Bulls started to string together longer sequences and when they won penalties, opted to kick for touch instead of lining up attempts at goal.
One such decision led to a try for former Blitzbok speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse in the right-hand corner.
The Lions somehow wrestled back the ascendancy at scrum time and when they won a penalty at the set piece, they too opted to kick for touch and lock Ruben Schoeman powered over from the subsequent lineout to make it an eight-point game with as many minutes remaining.
But there was no denying the Bulls, who quashed any hopes of a Lions comeback late in the match when they hoofed the ball into touch as soon as the full-time siren sounded.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls – tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Morne Steyn (3).
Emirates Lions – try: Ruben Schoeman. Conversion: Tiaan Swanepoel. Penalties: Swanepoel (2).