Bulls' second-half show floors Cheetahs
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls kept their winning streak intact with an impressive 40-13 win over the Cheetahs on Saturday.
The Bulls outscored the Cheetahs four tries to one.
The teams were levelled at the break, however the Bulls turned on the class and scored 27 unanswered points in the second stanza for the bonus-point win over the defending Currie Cup champions.
The win allowed the Pretoria outfit to continue their dominance this season, with the team stretching their lead at the top of the standings with an impressive seventh victory in eight matches.
*As it happened: Bulls v Cheetahs
Morne Steyn – who slotted four penalty goals and two conversions for his 16 points – scored the first points of the match as he landed his first three-pointer in the third minute.
His halfback partner Embrose Papier added to this minutes later as he rounded off a great try after good vision by Duane Vermeulen and a strong dash out wide by Marco Jansen van Vuren, with Steyn’s conversion handing them a 10-0 lead.
The Cheetahs hit back with a penalty goal by Frans Steyn thanks to a powerful scrum, but this was cancelled out by his Bulls namesake minutes later.
Frans Steyn slotted his second penalty goal soon after, and the visitors’ finally broke through for their first try in the dying minutes of the half as Reinhardt Fortuin – who was drafted into the starting team as a late replacement for Tian Schoeman – dotted down.
Fortuin received the ball from a solid scrum and he straightened up to cruise though the defence, with the conversion levelling the scores at 13-13.
Cheetahs had an opportunity to take the lead for the first time on the stroke of halftime, but their attempt at goal went wayward.
The Bulls again got a head start in the second half with Van Staden scoring their second try in the 51st minute from a rolling maul, and they built on this with two penalty goals by the in-form Morne Steyn to extend their lead to 13 points.
The hosts continued to stamp their authority on attack with Chris Smith dashing through to the tryline in the 67th minute, and he added the conversion to push the score out of reach for the visitors.
The hosts fought until the end and that paid off with Van Staden earning his brace from a pick-and-go with three minutes to play after some impressive work by the forwards, and Smith added the two points to wrap up the convincing 40-13 victory.
Man of the match: Bulls Marco van Staden was again in fine form, aside from scoring a brace the flank was solid in defence and his work at the breakdown was vital. However our nod goes to Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn, who was flawless from the tee and steered his team very well with vital kicks.
The scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: Papier, Van Staden 2, Smith
Cons: Steyn 2, Smith 2
Pens: Steyn 4
For Cheetahs
Try: Fortuin
Con: Steyn
Pen: Steyn 2
teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 David Kriel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Marnus Potgieter.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Carl Wegner (captain), 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Chris Massyn, 20 George Cronjé, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Chris Smith, 23 William Small-Smith.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron and Paul Mente
TMO: Johan Greeff
Photo credit: @speedshots.co.za