Bulls overcome gritty Griffons

The Vodacom Bulls scored eight tries on their way to a comprehensive bonus-point 52-10 (halftime 31-5) Carling Currie Cup victory over a gritty NovaVit Griffons at the Down Touch Investments Stadium in Welkom on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulls scored with a brace from No 8 Mpilo Gumede, centres Aphiwe Diyanti and Chris Smit, fullback Devon Williams, scrumhalf Bernard van der Linde and lock Sintu Majenzi with flyhalf Jaco van der Walt and his replacement, Chris Smith, adding three conversions apiece.

The Griffons managed to cross the line twice through winger Qamani Kota and No 8 Mingo Piti with winger Kota unable to convert either attempts.

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Some can forgive the Bulls for taking their foot off the peddle having secured their bonus point within the first 20 minutes but the Griffons fought hard throughout the afternoon, giving as good as they got, however, the home side will rue the amount of first-time tackles they missed, affording the Bulls the space to attack at will.

The visitors, who move to third on the log with their victory, were out the blocks in a flash with centre Smit offloading to his partner with precision to allow Diyanti to go over as early as the second minute.

Gumede picked up his first try of the afternoon just minutes later after a wonderful move saw fullback Williams offload to the burly No 8 on the wing to go over untouched.

Despite the tight angle, flyhalf Van der Walt converted with ease to edge to score out to 14 without reply.

Williams was then able to round off a wonderful move after turn-over ball as the ball was moved out to the right, with winger Sergeal Petersen drawing his defending and putting Williams over in the corner.

The Bulls then secured their bonus-point when Gumede scored his second, handing off his defender well to over in the right hand corner.

With 10 minutes remaining on the clock before halftime, the home side were handed a yellow card to flanker Thato Mavundla.

With the Bulls on the attack after a great break by scrumhalf Van der Linder, Mavundla brought down winger Stravino Jacobs but then prevented the ball from coming out, leaving referee Stephan Geldenhuis no choice but to issue the card for cynical play.

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The Bulls used their one-man advantage to register their fifth try as they drove towards the line with Van der Linder to break round the side and dive over.

The Griffons would have the last say of the half as they moved the ball left and with deft hands, Kota went over in the left-hand corner to see the sides enter the change rooms at 31-5.

The visitors started the second half as they did the first, needing just two minutes to register the first score of the half.

A lovely move from Van der Linde and offload to Smit saw the centre goe over untouched under the poles, leaving replacement flyhalf Chris Smith with an easy conversion.

The Bulls extended their lead to 40 points when Nizaam Carr broke through the Griffons defence, offloaded to Smit and then deftly flicked the ball inside to Manjezi to go over untouched.

But the Griffons’ effort was shown as their scrum, under pressure on their own tryline, pushed the Bulls pack backwards, earning a penalty.

Griffons fullback Gershwin Wehr showed calmness under pressure later on, dodging oncoming defenders inside his own goal area, to wonderfully clear the ball up to the halfway line.

The home fans were then rewarded with some excellent play from their team as Piti collected the ball off the base of a ruck to dive over left of the uprights.

However, the Bulls would have the final say of the afternoon, rounding off a wonderful move as 36-year old Cornel Hendricks danced through a tired Griffons defence to score under the poles and bring up the 50-point mark.

The Griffons have now shifted 20 tries in their first two outings and remain rooted to the foot of the log while the Bulls have made it two wins from two after a 30-25 victory over arch-rivals DHL Western Province in their first outing.

SCORERS:

NOVAVIT GRIFFONS – Tries: Qamani Kota, Mingo Piti.

VODACOM BULLS – Tries: Mpilo Gumede (2), Aphiwe Diyanti, Devon Williams, Bernard van der Linde, Chris Smit, Sintu Majenzi, Cornel Hendricks; Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (3), Chris Smith (3).