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CHEETAHS 19-51 BULLS
Visitors reign supreme but Hougaard sees red
The Bulls went four points clear at the top of the South African Super Rugby conference on Saturday afternoon with an overwhelming performance against a shell-shocked Cheetahs outfit in Bloemfontein.
Running in six tries altogether, the away side displayed huge determination and physical power to blow their opposition to smithereens - with the 4-try bonus point wrapped up before half-time.
An early penalty a-piece got the scoreboard ticking over - with both Morne Steyn and young fly-half Johan Goosen on target for their respective teams - but the encounter did not remain level for very long.
In the tenth minute the Bulls made their first breakthrough in controversial circumstances.
From a forward thrust, prop Dean Greyling crashed over the whitewash, but with referee Craig Joubert unsure of the grounding the decision was taken upstairs to the TMO. However, despite there being a clear element of doubt, the try was awarded and Steyn added the extras for a 7-point lead.
The visitors were enjoying the majority of possession as the entire team looked to get a slice of the action with ball in hand; but a lack of composure prevented them from extending their advantage as first full-back Zane Kirchner and then Steyn and centre Francois Venter combined to cough the pill up in some sloppy back play.
Greyling's luck seemed to be running out too as the prop - struggling in the scrum - conceded his second penalty in as many minutes after failing to properly engage following a strong hit from opposition tight-head WP Nel.
The Cheetahs decided to take a shot at the sticks from their position on half-way and protege Goosen was on target with his effort to tighten arrears.
The Cheetahs were offering plenty of endeavour and fight, but were unable to create any real damage among the Bulls defence, the visitors seeming comfortable at all times with relatively tame and lateral home attacks.
The same could not be said of their hosts and after another period of Bulls forward pressure a driving pack resulted in prop Werner Kruger barging over for his own five-pointer to brag about to front-row colleague Greyling.
Goosen's third penalty of the half brought the scores to 17-9 in the Bulls favour, but there was only so long the Cheetahs could cling on to Bull coattails as they kicked penalties whilst their opponents ran in tries.
So it proved as within moments the score margin had stretched still further.
With the Cheetahs losing control in midfield, Bulls scrum-half Francois Hougaard pounced on the loose ball and hacked forward with his outside backs chasing the ball being
pursued themselves by a frantic scramble defence.
Although the ball was initially reclaimed by the hosts, the Bulls' superiority at the breakdown won the ball back and, with possession now deep inside Cheetah 22, the ball was spun wide quickly through the hands before reaching left winger Bjorn Basson on the overlap, giving the Springbok speedster a simple run-in under the posts.
Steyn's successful conversion had put the away side firmly in control, but still the Cheetahs clung on - with Goosen nailing another tough kick from wide right with half-time looming to cut the deficit to twelve.
But the home side were dealt the killer blow within moments of the re-start to all but destroy any ambitions they still invested in the game.
From a well-won line-out the Bulls forwards rumbled - eating up metres and setting the platform for attack. From the base, Hougaard distributed to Steyn who fed his outside backs, inviting them to capitalise on a disorganised and bunched Cheetahs defensive line. A delightful step from Wynand Olivier got around would-be tacklers and Akona Ndungane was soon receiving the ball and flying down the right wing before offloading inside to Kirchner, the full-back finishing with ease.
The metronomic Steyn again added the extras and the Bulls jogged off at the interval boasting a significant 31-12 lead.
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The visitors' extra physicality in the tight and around the park was marked and was making easy pickings of a light-weight and naive Cheetahs outfit, whose defence and work-rate at the break-down was simply deplorable.
A Philip Snyman knock-on in the early stages of the second period summed up how the game was going for the hosts and within moments coach Naka Drotske was enforcing some much-needed changes.
The introduction of back-rower Ashley Johnson brought temporary respite with the 3-cap Springbok adding bulk to the pack and a desire to go forward meaningfully with ball in hand and test the Bulls defence.
But as encouraging as the lift in tempo was for the home team, the tenacity of tackle and competition at ruck-time - especially from Bulls flanker Jacques Potgieter - meant the Cheetahs were stopped dead at every phase.
Two quick-fire Steyn penalties kept the scoreboard ticking over and gave it a 37-12 gloss in the Bulls favour, but just after the hour mark referee Joubert ensured their night would not be a completely satisfactory one.
With the Cheetahs attempting to up the tempo again and press forward, centre Robert Ebersohn was caught by scrum-half Hougaard and with the sometime-winger looking to make a statement of defensive intent he lifted his opposition and let him drop on his head.
Despite it's initially inconspicuous nature - replays suggesting the scrummie had displayed no malice in the tackle or driven the player downward - Joubert stopped the game to consult with his assistant referee. With the linesman offering no reason why the man in the middle should not show the transgressor a red card, Hougaard was given his marching orders to once again raise the 'tip-tackle' as the most controversial and talked about aspect of rugby today.
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Buoyed by their sudden numerical advantage the Cheetahs poured forward and were soon over the whitewash for their first (and only) try of the day, as composure and discipline finally paid off for Adriaan Strauss - with the captain rewarded for his stirling efforts as he sold a dummy and burrowed over from two yards.
Goosen's conversion curled deliciously through the sticks, but the home fans cheers were soon silenced as the 14-man Bulls were by no means finished.
With the hosts spurred on by a raucous crowd they went all out to get back in the fixture. Possession - despite still being camped in their own 22 - was flung with purpose wide left, but Snyman, trying to find his pace-men, instead picked out replacement JJ Engelbrecht who claimed a misplaced pass and raced away for the Bulls fifth try.
Minutes later they were under the sticks again.
An intricate backline passing move found an on-rushing Kirchner who beat outside tacklers, chipped the ball over despairing defenders and received a fortuitous bounce to allow the former Cheetah to dot down with delight; with Steyn's ninth successful kick of the night rounding off a hugely pleasing display for the Bulls.
Star Man: JACQUES POTGIETER (BULLS) - His late sin-binning aside, this was a brilliantly committed performance from the Bulls wing forward. He put his body on the line time and time again with countless tackles and competed commendably at the breakdown to provide his team the quality ball they used to kill off their opponents.
5-metre flop: DAVON RAUBENHEIMER (CHEETAHS) - A lamentable display from the Cheetahs Number 8. Was on the back foot every time he received the ball, provided no grunt or steel for a foundering pack and looked disinterested for large parts of the game. A wonder it took 53 minutes to replace him.
All images courtesy of www.supersport.com & www.planetrugby.co.uk
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