Staff Reporter.
The Vodacom Bulls’ superior class was evident in a comfortable 53-27 Currie Cup victory over the Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
A second-half surge allowed the men from Pretoria to pull away from Griquas, scoring seven tries to four to secure an emphatic 53-27 victory on the road.
The old adage of it is a game of two halves’ rang true today as a tight-fought contest turned into a bloodbath with Griquas capitulating in the second half to allow the Bulls to rack up the points.
The match sparked into life initially through Simphiwe Mtanzima’s opening try for the Bulls. The loose head prop continued to display career-best form and was busy in the opening exchanges, eventually rewarded with a try for his efforts.
Griquas came roaring back into the contest through Zander du Plessis, who scored a scintillating try after bumping off a number of attempted tackles. He converted his own kick in order to bring the scores level again after 15 minutes. A drop goal by Theo Boshoff followed soon after and handed the hosts the lead.
The Bulls started to flex and, off the back of a dominant forward pack, made inroads into the Griquas defence. It wasn’t long before Cornal Hendricks scored after a period of sustained pressure. Walt Steenkamp added to the pressure when he crossed for the Bulls’ third.
It looked as though Griquas might slip out of the contest but they fought back valiantly, profiting from a try by Hanru Sirgel that left them 22-15 down at half time.
It was a different story in the second half as the floodgates seemed to open for the Bulls. Arno Botha crossed the line two minutes after play restarted and it proved to be a sign of things to come. Canan Moodie, FC du Plessis and Keagan Johannes scored tries, each dutifully converted by flyhalf Chris Smith, as the Bulls ran way with the match.
Not even Du Plessis’ second try could stem the flow for Griquas who were lacklustre and disorganised on defence in the face of a powerful Bulls outfit. The hosts managed to add one further try to their tally in the 77th minute when Michael Amiras dotted down, but it was too little and far too late.
Meanwhile Boeta Chamberlain scored all the points for the Cell C Sharks in their 24-10 (halftime 12-10) Carling Currie Cup victory over the Airlink Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium in Mbombela on Friday evening.