Ken Borland

Defending SuperRugby champions the Queensland Reds came horribly unstuck at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday as the three-time champion Northern Bulls hammered them 61-8 (half-time 16-3).

This is the second time in five years that the Bulls have humiliated the Reds at Loftus, following the record 92-3 massacre in 2007.

The Reds are missing several injured or suspended members of their triumphant 2011 team, most notably flyhalf Quade Cooper, centre Anthony Faingaa and wing Digby Ioane, and they were never in the contest on Saturday.

“It was a bad night in the office all round, the performance was poor by us and a couple more injuries have added salt to the wound,” Reds coach Ewen McKenzie admitted afterwards in a news conference. “We hit a red-hot Bulls team tonight, they were very fresh and powerful.”

The Bulls scored just one try in the first half, through fullback Zane Kirchner after a five-metre scrum, but flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked three penalties and a conversion to give them a handy lead.

The Reds’ scrambling defence kept the damage down to just the single try, and centre Jono Lance missed two late penalties that would have kept them in touch.

But the Bulls were creating space on attack almost at will, and the Reds plunged into despair midway through the second half as the Bulls scored three tries to open up a 37-3 lead.

The powerful running of flank Jacques Potgieter and the great hands of Steyn put centre Wynand Olivier over for a try in the second minute of the half, before the strength of lock Flip van der Merwe carried him over the line in the 15th minute.

Potgieter then scored the try of the match as he burst clear from the halfway line and held off the cover defence to score the bonus point try.

“Everything came together tonight, it was a special performance, everyone brought something. It just wasn’t the Reds night, they were disrupted by injuries and citings, and I feel sorry for them,” Bulls captain Spies said.

The Reds responded by keeping ball in hand in entertaining fashion, fullback Rod Davies dashing down the right before wing Dom Shipperley rounded off on the left for the visitors’ only try.

But then it was back to the slaughter as the Bulls restored their dominance through keeping the ball close to the forwards. Eighthman Spies led from the front with several rampaging runs, while hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and wing Akona Ndungane were also impressive.

Alert replacement scrumhalf Jano Vermaak sniped over from a ruck in the 66th minute, before flank CJ Stander, who chased turnover ball well all evening, scored from a rolling maul six minutes later.

Replacement flyhalf Louis Fouche’s conversion put the Bull score into the fifties and, even though coach Frans Ludeke cleared the bench, the substitutes continued to tear into the Reds, with centre JJ Engelbrecht and fullback Bjorn Basson scoring tries in the last five minutes.

“It was important we stayed focused in the second half and we finished strongly, it just kept getting better! I felt we had good momentum when we carried the ball,” Spies said.

The win took the Bulls, who last won the southern hemisphere franchise championship in 2010, into first place in the overall standings, one point ahead of the Waikato Chiefs. Fellow South Africans the Stormers will overtake them at the top if they beat the Gauteng Lions later on Saturday.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Zane Kirchner, Wynand Olivier, Flip van der Merwe, Jacques Potgieter, Jano Vermaak, CJ Stander, JJ Engelbrecht, Bjorn Basson. Conversions: Morne Steyn (5), Louis Fouche’. Penalties: Steyn (3).

Queensland Reds – Try: Dom Shipperley. Penalty: Jono Lance.

The Blue Bulls were clinical in attack and rock-solid in defence as they hammered the MTN Golden Lions 49-10 (half-time 18-3) in their Vodacom Cup match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Bulls ran in six tries and they conceded just one as they thoroughly outplayed a Lions side that enjoyed enough possession, but could not make headway against a flat, imposing wall of defence. The Lions also tended to waste their ball with silly handling errors or poor option taking and a lack of flair.

The Lions actually opened the scoring with a seventh-minute penalty by fullback Marais Schmidt, but they had to wait another 52 minutes for their next shot at goal, when Schmidt kicked the conversion of their only try, by wing Anthony Volmink. That came about after the Lions finally got their scrum going and worked the blindside.

By then, however, the Bulls had already scored their bonus point try and the consolation effort allowed the Lions to close the gap to 35-10.

The Bulls enjoyed a healthy 18-3 lead at halftime, thanks to two penalties by flyhalf Tony Jantjies, whose boot kept the home side going forward. The younger brother of Lions star Elton succeeded with five conversions and three penalties in all, as well as scoring an impressive individual try for a haul of 24 points.

Lions loosehead prop Fhumulani Kamanga struggled to get himself settled at the scrum and the result was a series of penalties to the Bulls. One of these, in the 19th minute, was kicked to touch and, from the lineout, Jantjies put in a good straight run to get over the advantage line, allowing scrumhalf Ruan Snyman to pick the ball up at the ruck and swivel through a couple of tackles and score.

The Bulls’ second try came in the 21st minute from another scrum penalty deep inside the Lions’ 22. From the tap penalty, Jantjies charged straight through the flimsy defence of opposite number Garth April to score.

The Lions tried hard to breach the Bulls defence up to the end of the first half, enjoying 68% possession in the first 40 minutes, but their efforts invariably came to nought, ending in a dropped pass or a turnover.

It meant the Lions finished the first half 15 points behind and the second half just saw a repeat of their first-half mistakes.

Another scrum penalty six minutes after the break allowed the Bulls to set up a midfield ruck, fullback Ulrich Beyers popped up in the backline and wing Jurgen Visser was looming on the wing and able to canter over the tryline.

Jantjies kicked the conversion and a penalty in the 54th minute as the Bulls extended their lead to 28-3 and sealed the result.

From the kickoff, Snyman hoisted an up-and-under and Visser appeared out of nowhere to snatch the ball from Schmidt, and Beyers was up in support to take an inside pass and score under the poles (35-3).

The Lions did bounce back with Volmink’s lone try, but the Bulls were quickly back on to the attack.

At a venue where tight play is so admired, it was fitting that the Bulls’ last two tries were scored by loosehead prop Vincent Koch and replacement tighthead Basil Short.

It was at forward where the Bulls had laid the platform for their triumph and the whole pack were brilliant, working as the most well-knit of units.

The Bulls backline was solid in defence and efficient on attack: Jantjies has clearly inherited the genes of his brother, while the midfield pairing of Francois Venter and Jan Serfontein is one of the most promising in the country.

SCORERS:

Vodacom Blue Bulls – Tries: Ruan Snyman, Tony Jantjies, Jurgen Visser, Ulrich Beyers, Vincent Koch, Basil Short. Conversions: Jantjies (5). Penalties: Jantjies (3).

MTN Golden Lions – Try: Anthony Volmink. Conversion: Marais Schmidt. Penalty: Schmidt.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120324/Clinical_Bulls_hammer_Lions

The Griffons were overpowered up front and had little hope against a Ford Pumas side that hammered them 43-12 (half-time 22-5) in their Vodacom Cup match in Welkom on Friday.

With their scrum being shoved backwards and their lineout not functioning, the Griffons were playing on a wing and a prayer, and, with such tremendous first-phase ball, the Pumas were able to breach their defences with ease, running in six tries.

Flank Jaco Bouwer scored two tries and revelled in the wonderful platform laid by his tight five, while flyhalf JC Roos collected 13 points via five conversions and a penalty.

That penalty came in the sixth minute and opened the scoring in the North Section encounter. But a storm then approached the North-West Stadium and referee Archie Sehlako took the players off the field due to lightning danger and play was interrupted for 20 minutes.

Upon their return, it took a while for the Pumas to regain their momentum, but the educated boot of fullback Coenie van Wyk set up the first try in the 25th minute. Van Wyk’s chip was perfectly placed for wing Wilhelm Loock, who returned the favour by passing back to Van Wyk to score with the tryline in front of them.

Roos converted and the Pumas led 10-0.

The one aspect of the Griffons’ play that the Pumas never really learnt to handle were the bullocking runs of stocky centre Japie Nel in midfield and, as he kept the visitors’ defence busy trying to bring him down, eighthman Nicky Steyn was on his shoulder to take the try-scoring pass (10-5).

But the Pumas were quickly back in Griffons’ territory and wing Deon Scholtz dashed over for a try as the home side’s defence napped after a penalty was awarded against them.

As half-time approached, the Pumas pack kept driving forward and the inspirational Bouwer was the one to dot down, with Roos converting. Thunder could still be heard in the distance, but the Griffons’ players’ ears were full of the ominous sound of an approaching hiding as the visitors went into the break 22-5 up.

Referee Sehlako had to order uncontested scrums shortly after half-time as the Griffons had no more props left, which gave the home side some respite. But Sehlako was still firm in policing the outmatched hosts, yellow carding replacement scrumhalf Tertius Carse and, towards the end of the match, red-carding fullback Tertius Maarman, who had moved to halfback, for stamping.

The second half sprung to life in the last 10 minutes, with Bouwer scoring his second try on the back of the Pumas’ forward dominance, with Roos kicking the extra two points (29-5).

The Pumas did pay the penalty for again not stopping Nel in the danger area as another blazing run by the powerhouse centre set up Steyn for his second try, but the final say would be the Pumas’ as Loock, who showed great passion and pace, and captain and centre JW Jonker crossed for tries.

The other Pumas player to shine was scrumhalf Shaun Venter, who maintained a cracking pace in terms of his distribution and linking play between forwards and backs.

With the odds so heavily stacked against him, Steyn led the Griffons pack with aplomb, performing miraculous deeds from the back of the scrum as he parted the Pumas defence on a number of occasions.

GRIFFONS– Tries: Nicky Steyn (2). Conversion: Reinhardt Erwee.

FORD PUMAS – Tries: Coenie van Wyk, Deon Scholtz, Jaco Bouwer (2), Wilhelm Loock, JW Jonker. Conversions: JC Roos (5). Penalty: Roos.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120323/Pumas_hammer_Griffons

An 80th-minute try by replacement scrumhalf Anrich Richter clinched a 31-28 victory for the Valke over the Leopards in an exciting Vodacom Cup match at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park on Friday.

With the Valke trailing 28-26 in the last minute, the home forwards produced one last mighty effort and drove powerfully to within a couple of metres of the Leopards line. From the resulting ruck, a breakdown in the North-West defence presented the try on a tray for Richter, and he wasted no time in sniping over the match-winning points.

Flyhalf Juan Kotze missed the conversion, but it didn’t matter as replacement flyhalf Wilco de Wet had missed a potentially crucial penalty a few minutes earlier for the Leopards, after Springbok Andre Pretorius had limped off with an injury.

The Leopards had also lost concentration shortly before half time when, after easing into a 14-7 lead after 32 minutes, they allowed flank Bradley Fortuin to score after the hooter and lift the Valke to 12-14 at the break.

Despite the teams sharing nine tries, there was nothing lamb-to-the-slaughter about the defending nor the tight exchanges, with Leopards hooker BW van Dyk and Valke prop Zane Kilian being yellow-carded shortly after half-time as they allowed their emotions to overflow.

The Valke had dominated the early exchanges, but both fullback Arno Poley and Kotze failed with early penalty attempts in the first 15 minutes. The home side did get the first points on the board, however, in the 22nd minute, when flank Marco Kotze crossed for the opening try, which the flyhalf Kotze converted (7-0).

Perhaps relieved by the try, the Valke’s wall of defence lapsed soon afterwards, allowing Leopards centre Adriaan Engelbrecht to score the visitors’ first try. That was followed by a top-class try by wing Berty Visser, who rounded off a backline move with a powerful run. Pretorius, who had just missed a penalty, kicked his second conversion to put the Leopards 14-7 up.

The Valke loose forwards all had busy games, but Fortuin was the star performer and he scored in first-half injury time to put the Valke back within two points.

It took a while for both teams to settle after a fiery start to the second half, but Valke wing Kyle Hendricks then scored in the 50th minute, with Juan Kotze adding the extra two points (19-14).

But the Valke once again lost their concentration and the Leopards’ response was immediate as Engelbrecht, their most incisive player, cut through for his second try. Pretorius’s conversion gave the North-West team a two-point lead.

Despite Valke wing Sinovuyo Ganto scoring a fine try, converted by Juan Kotze (26-21), the Leopards must have thought they had done enough for the win after Engelbrecht completed his hat-trick and Pretorius kicked his fourth conversion.

But it was Richter and the Valke who had the last say.

VALKE – Tries: Marco Kotze, Bradley Fortuin, Kyle Hendricks, Sinovuyo Ganto, Anrich Richter. Conversions: Juan Kotze (3).

LEOPARDS – Tries: Adriaan Engelbrecht (3), Berty Visser. Conversions: Andre Pretorius (4).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120323/Valke_beat_Leopards_in_thriller