Ken Borland

Bulls coach Nollis Marais said he was not happy about the bonus point which eluded his team despite their convincing 41-22 victory over the Reds at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend.

The Bulls were leading 27-8 after 50 minutes, but conceded two quick tries to powerful Reds centre Samu Kerevi, and, although they finished with five tries, they ended one short of the bonus point, losing the throw at a lineout five metres from the opposition tryline after the final hooter.

“I wasn’t happy that we didn’t get the bonus point, we should have used that lineout at the end. We got back in the game after they scored an excellent try up front, but at certain stages there was too much individual play. At halftime we said we must stick to the structures and let the ball do the work, not the man. We weren’t accurate enough,” Marais said after the win, which kept them up with the leaders in the South African Group.

“But we are getting better every week. We played for seven years with the same style here and now we’re trying something different, even though it might not always look like it. Previously guys would just tuck the ball under the arm and go straight for the opposition, but guys like Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel are now moving the ball.

“It’s a game plan which the Lions are a couple of years down the line with, but we must stick to that – it’s important to see the space,” Marais said.

The Bulls now have a bye before going on tour to Australia and both Marais and captain Adriaan Strauss warned that it is not going to get any easier as they try to nail down a playoff spot.

“We are a process-driven team and we’re not where we want to be, but we’ll take a win any day. It was a good win, but we are chasing high standards, the perfect game, so we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves.

“It’s definitely not going to get any easier, especially on tour. We’ll enjoy the win and the week off, but then we need to focus 100% on the Force, which will be a tough challenge,” Strauss said.

“To have our two byes so early is a challenge, I would have liked one after the tour. But now the weekend after we come back from tour, we play the Stormers here. So that’s going to be a big challenge and we need to make sure the guys are rested enough,” Marais added.

The Vodacom Bulls sauntered to a 41-22 victory over the Reds in their SuperRugby match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday night, but it was a win that was lacking bling and did not earn a bonus point for the home side.

The Reds came roaring out of the blocks as they turned over the first Bulls scrum and a superb backline move in which Eto Nabuli came off his wing, fullback Karmichael Hunt did great work and then Chris Feauai-Sautia went streaking down the right wing, led to the first try in the fifth minute.

But the Reds found their way blocked for most of the rest of the game as the Bulls settled in the scrum, dominated the lineouts and simply put up a blue wall that the opposition could not get through. Given such a forward platform, the backs had plenty of ball to play with and, although they produced some lovely touches, the finishing was often dire due to poor passing, over-running the ball, not passing when they should have, not taking the gap when it was on or lacking vision.

The tone was set in the 16^th minute when flyhalf Francois Brummer, who was excellent kicking for the poles, burst through on a good pass from the skilful loosehead prop Trevor Nyakane, but, after an interchange of passes with scrumhalf Rudy Paige, he then dropped the ball with the tryline beckoning.

The Cell C Sharks ran out of steam in the last quarter as they let slip the opportunity to get their New Zealand tour off to a winning start as they went down 23-18 to the Blues in their Vodacom SuperRugby match at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

The Sharks led 11-10 at the break, despite the Blues thoroughly dominating the first-half possession and territory stats, and the brilliance of Willie le Roux and Paul Jordaan created a try shortly after the restart, giving the visitors an 18-10 lead.

But the home side struck back, claiming a 20-18 lead with a brilliant try by wing Rieko Ioane, although the Sharks had the chances to erase the deficit thereafter. But the lineout imploded, three throws being lost inside the Blues’ 22 and lock Etienne Oosthuizen conceded a crucial ruck penalty in front of the opposition poles as well.

The opening stages of the match were marked by the Sharks’ lack of ball-retention skills: The Blues would hang on to the ball for phase after phase and, although they were sometimes way too lateral, their attacks were dangerous and they looked the much more likely team to score first.

A penalty by flyhalf Ihaia West was early reward for the Blues but, astonishingly, it was the Sharks who scored the opening try, on their first visit to the opposition 22.

It started with a fine turnover by flank Jean-Luc du Preez, but it was the appreciation-of-space skill of fullback Willie le Roux that made the try, his chip finding the Blues defence in disarray. Flyhalf Joe Pietersen gathered the bouncing ball and, from the resulting ruck, the power of Tendai Mtawarira was enough for him to barrel over the line.

Six minutes later, the scrummaging prowess of Mtawarira was to the fore as the Sharks won a set-piece penalty, which Pietersen slotted to give them an 8-3 lead.

Pietersen kicked a second penalty in the 33^rd minute, after scrumhalf Cobus Reinach had pounced on a loose ball inside his own 22, hacked ahead and was taken out in the chase, but it was obvious that the Sharks defence was under pressure just given the sheer number of tackles they had to make.

Four minutes before the break, the Blues attacked from a lineout on the Sharks’ 22 and West twice just failed to find the tryline before centre George Moala, who came on when the dangerous and experienced Rene Ranger limped off with a knee injury, dotted down from a ruck a metre short.

West landed the conversion to make it a one-point game (10-11) at halftime.

Even though his kicking game is still in need of plenty of work, Le Roux is a potent threat with ball in hand as he showed in the 42^nd minute. Getting the ball at first-receiver, he burst through a half-gap and outside centre Jordaan was perfectly-placed on his shoulder to take the pass and show great pace to finish the try.

Pietersen converted and the Sharks were 18-10 up. But this is a young Sharks side and, unfortunately, their composure faltered badly in the final quarter.

West, who is an enigmatic general for the Blues, sliced one penalty wide but then succeeded with his 56^th-minute effort to close the gap to 13-18.

There are some top-class runners of the ball in the Blues backline and, when West anticipated well to field a clearing kick by wing Lwazi Mvovo, those players were brought into the game.

Wing Ioane managed to get around a tiring Mtawarira in the first line of defence and roared away for a superb individual try, West’s conversion giving the Blues a two-point lead.

The Sharks went straight into the Blues’ 22 from the kickoff, but Oosthuizen gave away a soft penalty at the ruck and a total meltdown in the lineout followed. A penalty by West just before the final whistle, referee Jaco Peyper making a harsh offsides call on Oosthuizen when he went for the halfback, sealed the Sharks’ fate.

There were many bright moments for the Sharks – the scrums were good and lock Stephan Lewies gave a fine all-round performance, the poor throwing by the hookers being the major problem with the lineout in the closing stages.

The loose trio of the two Du Preez brothers and Philip van der Walt was outstanding, while Le Roux and Jordaan showed that there is attacking skill in this Sharks side, given the right platform.

But with their winless streak now stretching to four matches and games against the Highlanders, Chiefs and Hurricanes (back at home) to come, even the most optimistic of Sharks supporters will now be stum.

Scorers

Blues – Tries: George Moala, Rieko Ioane. Conversions: Ihaia West (2). Penalties: West (3).

Sharks – Tries: Tendai Mtawarira, Paul Jordaan. Conversion: Joe Pietersen. Penalties: Pietersen (2).

http://www.citizen.co.za/1077253/sharks-run-out-of-steam-in-the-final-quarter/