Bulls return to winning ways in Vodacom URC

The Vodacom Bulls returned to winning ways in a competitive Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against their Gauteng neighbours, the Emirates Lions, in Pretoria on Saturday, with the current SA Shield holder building on a 17-14 half-time lead to walk away with a rewarding 31-19 bonus-point win.

The Pretoria outfit were under pressure to register a victory after succumbing to a disappointing 29-19 defeat against Hollywoodbets Sharks last weekend, and they delivered a vastly improved performance, outscoring the Johannesburgers by five tries to three at their fortress, Loftus Versfeld.

The bonus point win saw the Bulls move to 40 log points to consolidate their third place on the URC table behind the Glasgow Warriors (42) and log-leaders Leinster (52) after 11 matches.

The defeat for the Lions, in turn, means they remain in 12th position with 23 points – trailing the 10th placed DHL Stormers by one point and the eighth-placed Scarlets by four points – although the Joburg outfit have a game in hand after playing only 10 matches to date.

The Bulls broke out of the blocks quickly, scoring three tries – by Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux, and Sebastian de Klerk – by the 12th minute to build up an encouraging 17-0 lead but they were dealt a blow soon after as Stedman Gans received a yellow card for a cynical foul as Henco van Wyk scored the Lions’ first try, which reduced the hosts to 14 men.

The visitors capitalised on this with their second try six minutes later as PJ Botha’s five-pointer reduced the Bulls’ lead to only three points – although, had it not been for errors at crucial times, the Lions could possibly have scored two more tries before halftime.

The home team returned with renewed energy after the break and it didn’t help the Lions that they were reduced to 14 men two minutes after play resumed as Quan Horn received a yellow card, which paved the way for Moodie to score his second try of the match after some slick passing, with David Kriel’s conversion nudging them 24-14 ahead.

The Lions felt the pressure and conceded a number of consecutive penalties before Marco van Staden touched down for the Bulls’ fifth try in the 55th minute to inflate their score to 31 points.

Rather than getting them down, this fuelled the Lions’ motivation to fight back and they did so with some scintillating rugby as their forwards and backs combined well to apply pressure on the home side and threaten their line for long periods.

Their efforts eventually paid off with a try by Richard Kriel in the 67th minute, which set the scene for an exciting finish to the match. Unfortunately for the Johannesburgers too many errors and penalties conceded – one of which meant they had a try overturned for foul play – saw the Bulls notch up another win.

The local derbies will continue next weekend with the Lions hosting the Sharks in Johannesburg and the Bulls crossing paths once again with the Stormers in Pretoria.

Score

Vodacom Bulls (17) – Tries: Canan Moodie (2), Willie le Roux, Sebastian de Klerk, Marco van Staden. Conversions: David Kriel (3).

Emirates Lions (14) – Tries: Henco van Wyk, PJ Botha, Richard Kriel. Conversions: Gianni Lombard (2).