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the Bulls put together your most comprehensive performance in a competitive game yet under the rugby director Jake white with a dominant 41-14 win in six attempts over the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday.
The home team, clearly bruised from their Super Rugby Unlocked loss to the Cheetahs last week, made amends in every facet of their game by shutting down a Sharks team that lacked leading edge.
HOW IT HAPPENED | Bulls 41-14 Sharks.
Much like they did during Saturday’s Super Fan warm-up game last month, the Bulls threw their biggest punches in the first half, two of which landed and dropped the visitors.
And there was familiarity about it, as the Seven Stedman Gans sprinter was back at the heart of the matter when the No. 13 Bulls opened the scoring at 28.th minute.
The try, which seemed easy when Gans finished unopposed under the sticks, came from the first real moment of loose play.
The Bulls capitalized on the broken play, chaining down the kind of discharge passes you’d expect from their opponents, but they proved to be the most skilled attackers again in the game with the Durbanites.
Quickly, the Bulls landed a second hook to the Sharks’ chin four minutes later.
This time scrum-half Ivan van Zyl was the instigator of the break, with a shot from the base of the ruck on his left sideline that hit him just enough to wreak havoc on the Sharks’ defense.
New kid Elrigh Louw was there to follow up and Van Zyl duly indulged him with a timely volley before passing the favor to prowler Marco van Staden, who edged out Hyron Andrews on the try line.
While far behind and surprisingly calm on offense by the Bulls, the Sharks held on at halftime with three precious penalties from the boot of elevated middle Curwin Bosch. Morne Steyn added a penalty to both attempts to make it 17-9 for the hosts in the interval.
Turnovers conceded and a shaky lineout were the downfall of the Sharks in their quest to snatch momentum from the Bulls.
They also had no answers for the loose trio of Duane Vermeulen, Elrigh Louw and Van Staden. As far as they could to gain any advantage on the win line, the Bulls had the answers in defensive numbers and jackalers to play on the court.
Deprived of territory and possession, the Sharks were brought down again early in the second half when Van Staden scored his second try in the 44th.th minute, this time in the back of a lineout drive.
At 24-9, the Bulls were in full control and went into cruise control. The Sharks tried to fight their way back and scored from their first sniff of the try line in 53rd minute when hooker Dylan Richardson made his way over the line.
The joy was short-lived though, as the Bulls opened up the Sharks again, this time through a grubber from Steyn behind the Sharks defense that perfectly targeted winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, who unloaded Gans for your second.
As rain poured down on Pretoria, coupled with a thunderstorm and hail, the Bulls closed the game with two finals by Marco Jansen van Vuren and Embrose Papier scoring for two wins from three games in the competition.
Scorers:
Bulls – 41 (17)
Penalty: Morne Steyn
Attempts: Stedman Gans (2), Marco van Staden (2), Marco Jansen van Vuren, Embrose Papier
Conversions: Steyn (4)
Sharks – 14 (9)
Penalties: Curwin Bosch (3)
Test: Dylan Richardson
Teams:
Bulls
15 David Kriel, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje , 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Substitutes: 16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Marco Jansen van Vuren
Sharks
15 Manie Libbok, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Marius Louw, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Yaw Penxe
