By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Vodacom Bulls produced a commanding second-half display to defeat Zebre 47-13 in Parma and completed a perfect opening round for South Africa’s franchises.
This Bulls side was missing more than a half a dozen Springbok players who are on the road with the national side in Australia. Further to that, there are a few more that are injured or unavailable.
Zebre opened the scoring through fullback Tommaso Allan, who kicked a 13th-minute penalty goal, before the Bulls were handed a major opportunity when lock Matteo Canali was yellow-carded for illegally stopping a maul.
The Bulls were awarded a penalty try in the 26th minute which seemingly turned the momentum in their favour.
Allan brought the hosts back within a point with another penalty shortly afterwards, but lock Reinhardt Ludwig then powered over for the Bulls’ second try in the 31st minute, with flyhalf Curwin Bosch adding the conversion to put the visitors 14-6 ahead.
The Bulls continued to apply pressure and were rewarded again just before the break when scrumhalf Paul de Wet intercepted a wayward pass and ran 40m to score. Bosch converted once more to give the Pretoria-based side a 21-6 advantage at half-time.
It was one-way traffic after the break as lock Ruan Vermaak and centre Harold Vorster dotted down to stretch the Bulls’ advantage. Bosch remained perfect off the kicking tee, converting both tries.
As play entered the final quarter, there was finally something for the Zebre supporters to cheer about as captain Allessandro Fusco stepped his way over the line.
The Bulls continued pounding away at the Zebre line in the dying minutes, and were rewarded when Ludwig crashed over for his second of the night and replacement wing Zak Burger dived over in the corner to seal an accomplished performance on the road for Johan Ackermann’s team.
Zebre Parma – Try: Allessandro Fusco. Conversion: Tommaso Allan. Penalties: Allan (2).
Bulls – Tries: Penalty try, Reinhardt Ludwig (2), Paul de Wet, Ruan Vermaak, Harold Vorster, Zak Burger. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4), Willie le Roux.
Meanwhile a late try by Kelly Mpeku, converted by Chris Smith, ensured that the 10bet Lions secured a 27-26 victory (half-time 17-19) over the defending champions, Leinster, in an exciting match in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.
Scorers:
10bet Lions 27 (17) – Tries: Erich Cronje (2), Kelly Mpeku. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalty goals: Smith (2).
Leinster 26 (19) – Tries: Fintan Gunne (3), Stephen Smyth. Conversions: Caspar Gabriel (2), Harry Byrne.
Elsewhere Sharks got their campaign off to the best possible start with a bonus-point 41-24 win over the Ospreys in Durban also on Saturday.
Scorers:
Hollywoodbets Sharks 41 (28) – Tries: Nick Hatton, Manu Tshituka, Luan Giliomee (2), Litelihle Bester. Conversions: Vusi Moyo (4), Siya Masuku. Penalty goals: Moyo (2).
Ospreys 24 (14) – Tries: Luke Morgan, Sam Parry, Liam Wright, Iestyn Hopkins. Conversions: Lawson Creighton (2).
Recap:
The DHL Stormers overcame a tricky start to their campaign with a 29-15 victory over Connacht in Ireland on Friday night. On Saturday, the Lions beat Leinster by 27-26 in Johannesburg; the Sharks were too good for the Ospreys in Durban, where they won 41-24; and the Bulls smashed Zebre Parma by 47-13 in Italy.