News
Blue Bulls end Cheetahs' run
October 11 2008
The Free State Cheetahs' hopes of defending their Currie Cup title came to an end on Saturday when they went down 31-19 to the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
The Blue Bulls outscored their visitors three tries to one and will now face the Sharks in the final in Durban in two weeks time.
In Blistering heat, on a windless day, there was blood, there were guts, the big hits never stopped....it's was typical Bulls v Cheetahs stuff.
If playing for a place in the Currie Cup Final wasn't enough motivation, the prospect of joining the Springbok team on tour in November would have been in the back of the minds of a number of players and Blue Bulls backs Morne Steyn and Wynand Olivier did their chances of selection no harm.
The Cheetahs came out and did exactly what coach Naka Drotské had promised: they took the game to the Bulls and got right in their hosts' faces like men possessed.
The home team countered by putting endless high kicks behind the Cheetahs pack as Steyn and full-back Zane Kirchner peppered the visitors' rear guard with bombs - and it worked.
Instead of being a ding-dong war, the first half became a ping-pong tussle as the Bulls dragged their visitors into an aerial battle, with the home side coming off best thanks to excellent positional play from Kirchner and Fourie de Preez especially.
The Bulls' pattern became somewhat predictable, as soon as the ball came out of a ruck, high into the air it went. Predictable as it was, it was no less effective as Olivier kept the Cheetahs under pressure, chasing down the kicks in midfield.
The Cheetahs opened the scoring thanks to a penalty by fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter and the teams continued to exchange three pointers until the visitors led 9-6 after a quarter of an hour.
The turning point of the game came on the twenty-minute mark as speedster Bryan Habana put his side ahead with a signature finish. A long pass out wide from Olivier found Habana in space 20m from the line and you don't need to be told what happened next.
The Bulls took the lead and their was no looking back.
Steyn added another penalty before the Bulls landed a crucial blow. Two minutes before the break the blue backline moved the ball quickly out wide and Kirchner sprinter over. He gifted the try to wing John Mametsa - passing the ball to him in the in-goal area. Steyn added the conversion and the teams jogged off with the Bulls 21-9 up.
The Cheetahs were first to score of the break as Potgieter added three more but the fire was slowly fading from their attack.
Injuries to number eight Duane Vermeulen and his replacement Hendro Scholtz saw them leave the field early in the second period and the Bulls pack started to gain the upper hand in the tight exchanges. Nowhere was it more evident than in the scrums where the men in white and orange started going backwards.
The game look done and dusted when Victor Matfield ran in from close range to score under the posts. With Steyn's extra two the home side led 28-12 and the crowd started waving their flags.
The Cheetahs weren't done yet though and when speedy wing Jongi Nokwe intercepted on his own try-line and sprinted home with thirteen minutes to play, the Cheetahs were back in with a sniff.
The Bulls immediately stepped it up and gear as Du Preez kept his pack going forward. Potgieter missed with two long-range efforts as his team were unable to penetrate the Bulls 22.
In the dying minutes the home side were happy to keep ball in hand and closed out the game. Onward to Durban they go now in a replay of the 2007 Super 14 Final. It's going to be cracker!
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Habana, Mametsa, Matfield
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 3
For the Cheetahs:
Try: Nokwe
Pens: Potgieter 4
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 John Mametsa, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Rayno Gerber, 2 Derick Kuun, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Juandre' Kruger, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Tiger Mangweni.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 JW Jonker, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith (c), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 David de Villiers, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Nico Breedt, 19 Hendro Scholtz, 20 Jandré Blom, 21 Hennie Daniller, 22 Kabamba Floors.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Deon van Blommestein, Joey Salmans
TMO: Shaun Veldsman