The Vodacom Bulls kept up their unbeaten run in this year’s Carling Currie Cup as they dispatched a brave Suzuki Griquas side 47-24 in their match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
The home side outscored the visitors seven tries to four, but had to come back from an early 14-0 deficit and watched as two Griquas tries were disallowed for forward passes as the Bulls took all the points on offer.
While Griquas were - apart from the opening 20 minutes - never really in with a shout to win the game, those two tries could have made life rather uncomfortable for the Bulls in the end, and they should be commended for their never-say-die attitude.
Still, while this Bulls side clearly still has deficiencies that can be exploited by other teams, their attack piles on the points and they were certainly clinical enough to make their forays into the opposition 22 turn into points on more than one occasion.
The Vodacom Bulls maintain their unbeaten record in the 2024 #CarlingCurrieCup 🐂✅ pic.twitter.com/S6MHKxDXCq
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Flanker Celimpilo Gumede was probably the most impressive player on the field, followed closely by Mihlali Mose and the cameos of Sintu Manjezi, while Chris Barend Smit was a handful in the midfield.
For Griquas, flanker Marco de Witt was everywhere, while captain Sango Xamlashe and winger Sako Makata were thorns in the side of the Bulls whenever they had the ball.
The game started exceptionally well for the visitors, as De Witt broke from a ruck to show speed, then a stupendous dummy, to score an individual try on the two minute mark to open the scoring.
All action from Marco de Witt 💥
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Give him half a chance and he'll take it 😤💨
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BONUS POINT IN THE BAG BEFORE HALFTIME
Dylan Maart added to that against the run of play as his side turned defence into attack and a cross field punt bounced perfectly into his hands to score the second try and see his side 14-0 up.
But then the Bulls settled in and started to claw their way back. It wasn’t long before Nizaam Carr drifted into the backline to create the overlap and Gumede took two defenders over the sideline, but managed an inside pass to Jaco van der Walt just before he crossed for the Bulls’ opening try.
Chris Barend Smit touched down after a series of hands shortly afterwards and the Bulls were level, while the overlap on the left- hand side was exploited again for Henry Immelmann to run in at the corner and give the home side the lead.
Gumede ghosted through a gap at short range for the Bulls' fourth try to claim the bonus point before the halftime break and while Cebo Dlamini finished off a 21-phase attack at the halftime whistle to give Griquas hope, Gumede added his second early in the second half to re-establish the lead.
Griquas then had two consecutive tries disallowed, both for forward passes that were clear on the television cameras.
The first, which saw Dylan Maart go in at the corner was a double blow, because from the ensuing scrum the Bulls won a penalty, kicked it into the corner and watched Juann Else go over at the back of a rampant rolling maul.
Connor Mahoney looked to have scored a sensational try, but again it was disallowed after a forward pass by Makata, but Maart did finally cross the line after that for his second try.
Else’s second finished the match as a contest, but with 11 tries and a lot of drama, the small crowd were treated to an entertaining match, while the Bulls continued their march to the playoffs.
Scorers
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Celimpilo Gumede (2), Juann Else (2), Jaco van der Walt, Chris Barend Smit, Henry Immelmann. Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (4), Boeta Chamberlain (2).
Suzuki Griquas - tries: Marco de Witt, Dylan Maart (2), Cebo Dlamini. Conversions: Zinedine Robinson (2)