The Vodacom Bulls opened their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a hard-fought 31-15 win against neighbours, the Emirates Lions at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.
Flyhalf Chris Smith’s boot contributed 16 points and slotted penalties at crucial times, as the side outscored the Lions three tries to two and were pushed hard for their win, despite the scoreline saying otherwise.
In the end, the Bulls’ street smarts got them home but the Lions showed that with a bit more purpose, and bit more accuracy, they will be a handful for any team in the competition, especially at home.
The Bulls mentioned earlier in the week that the extra weeks off they gave players in the early season may come back to hamper them, but it didn’t show as they put through a physical performance that will give them a lot of hope for their second season in the competition.
There were some exceptional cameos from their new signings, including Ruan Vermaak, Wandisile Simelane and S’bu Nkosi, and when you realise that the likes of Bismarck du Plessis, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie are still on their way back alongside Johan Goosen, there was much for Bulls fans to smile about. David Kriel slotting in at 12 was also a masterstroke as he found room on attack at almost every juncture.
Their pack may have struggled a bit with the Lions' rolling maul, but most of the contests were even, although the Lions would have been a bit disappointed with their own finishing at crucial times.
Morne van den Berg, Francke Horne, Marius Louw and Jordan Hendrikse all had strong games and there were enough positives for the management to work on ahead of a tough season and entry into European competitions.
The Bulls opened their account early as they dominated the opening play and captain Marcell Coetzee bludgeoned his way over the line from close range to open the scoring for the visitors.
Jordan Hendrikse got the home side on the board with an early penalty, but the Bulls countered with one of their own from Smith’s boot.
But the end-to-end action at times was energy sapping and bodes well for the attack for the rest of the competition.
The moment that mattered though came from the Bulls as they turned a dropped ball that rolled into their goal area into gold by refusing to dot down and pass the ball behind their own posts.
It unleashed a surge of play upfield where almost the entire side touched the ball, and the waves swept left and right until the ball finally moved to Cornal Hendricks to score in the corner.
If it isn’t an early candidate for try of the season, there will have to be some exceptional scores to take away from the beauty of that move.
The Lions found their mojo through their rolling maul, which late in the first half caused the Bulls all sorts of problems, and marched down the field twice, the second attempt leaving Horne to go over and bring the scoreline down.
The Lions started the second half strongly and Marius Louw cut inside from a dominant position to score and level the scores, threatening the Bulls' hopes of an away win.
But the visitors simply put the hammer down and used their pack to grind away and win penalty after penalty, which Smith slotted with ease.
The final nail in the coffin came late in the second half as Jan-Hendrik Wessels went over from the back of a rolling maul, and the win was sealed.
The Lions fought back till the last minute, but it was too little too late as Jake White’s side opened their account in style.
SCORERS
Emirates Lions - tries: Francke Horne, Marius Louw. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse
Penalty: Hendrikse
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Marcell Coetzee, Cornal Hendricks, Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Conversion: Chris Smith (2). Penalties: Smith (4)