Bulls rumble past Brumbies
May 09 2008
The Bulls produced a clinical performance to out muscle and out sprint the Brumbies to win their Super 14 encounter 28-17 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
The home side outscored their Australian visitors three tries to two to run out convincing winners.
Leading 18-10 at half-time the Bulls turned up the heat in the second-half to deny the Brumbies any meaningful possession.
In contrast to the Brumbies, the Bulls execution was top-notch as they scored points off nearly every opportunity they created to win their third game in a row.
The Bulls finally seem to have wrapped their heads around the ELVs which oblige teams to create opportunities, not just cash-in on opposition mistakes. Gone are the days when the blue clad forwards can bash their opposition into a pulp and then rely on their sharp-shooting fly-halves to slot penalties.
It was just like the good days for the Loftus faithful who saw their team rekindle some of the form that won them the Super 14 last year. The Brumbies on the other hand had an off day and produced little of their trademark handling and phase play.
The Bulls pack was at it's awesome best, tackling the Brumbies to smithereens, as they played their part in an all around super team performance. The home side also effectively used their wings as full-back Zane Kirchner and captain Fourie Du Preez rained bombs down on the Brumbies with Akona Ndungane and Brian Habana chasing marvelously.
It was the Bulls wings chasing that effectively created their first try to open the scoring. Du Preez hacked ahead and the pressure from Ndungane and Habana saw the ball come out on the Bulls side. The blue clad forwards bashed towards the tryline opening up a huge overlap which JP Nel exploited with a clinical finish to put the home side ahead after just four minutes.
The Brumbies struck back with a try by Alister Campbell. The lock produced a great individual effort to leave Stirling Mortlock with an easy conversion. Before the Wallaby centre could slot the extra two points though, referee Steve Walsh sent Kirchner to the sin bin for what was nearly a spear tackle.
Playing with fourteen men didn't hamper the Bulls however as Wikus van Heerden was rewarded for some storming work from the Bulls pack to score. In fact it wasn't the first time the Bulls would score while missing a man. Within a minute of Kirchner coming on, Derick Kuün was sent off for slowing the Brumbies' ball down illegally.
Mortlock and Steyn exchanged penalties before Habana made a try saving intercept, using his pace his scramble back a deny the Brumbies a try just before half-time.
The Brumbies had actually enjoyed a territorial advantage in the first-half but that would soon change.
For the first twenty minutes of the second-half the Brumbies hardly touched the ball and when Wynand Olivier scored the Bulls third try on the 54 minute mark the game was as good as over.
A better try from a centre you could not have asked for. Olivier first sold Mortlock a dummy, a big step put him through the Brumbies line and an electrifying acceleration took him clear.
Under massive pressure from big men like Bakkies Botha, Pierre Spies and Van Heerden, the Brumbies just could not string the phases together.
George Smith showed his class in creating a try for Peter Kimlin but the visitors seemed to lack the motivation and the oumf needed to really threaten the home side.
Bulls captain Fourie du Preez summed up the Bulls to a tee after the game. "We've always said first go through the wall, the around it" he explained after the game.
The Brumbies will now have to rebuild their wall before their derby against the Force next week.
b>Yellow cards: Kirchner (Bulls - 21st minute- Dangerous tackle), Kuün (Bulls - 33rd minute - killing the ball)
Man of the match: The Bulls finally produced a real team performance. Pierre Spies showed some of his lightning pace and Bakkies Botha had one of his best games in a long time. But Wikus van Heerden tackled every that moved and gets our vote.
Moment of the match: Olivier's try was not only excellent but was the knock-out blow that took the wind out of the Brumbies sails.
Villain of the match: Lots of handbags, but few were thrown with any real intent.
The Scorers
For the Bulls:
Tries: Nel, Van Heerden, Olivier
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 3
Drops:
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Campbell, Kimlin
Cons: Mortlock 2
Pens: Mortlock
Drops:
Yellow cards: Kirchner (Bulls - 21st minute- Dangerous tackle), Kuün (Bulls - 33rd minute - killing the ball)
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JP Nel, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Jaco Engels, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Pedrie Wannenburg.
Brumbies: 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Josh Holmes, 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 George Smith, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Guy Shepherdson, 2 John Ulugia, 1 Nic Henderson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 Matt Toomua.
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Vinny Munro (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Dennis Immelman (South Africa)
Timekeeper: Gabriel Pappas (South Africa)