The Vodacom Bulls temporarily went top of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they turned up the heat to down the Emirates Lions 25-10 in their derby game in Johannesburg on Saturday.
In a scrappy game that never really hit the heights of the previous game at Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls grabbed their bonus point to go to the top of the log, although the winner of the later game between Leinster and Benetton would ultimately bypass them and push them into second or third spot.
The Lions were a shadow of the side that ran the Bulls close in the previous game, and were overshadowed at the breakdown, and lost the collisions that mattered, being forced to kick under pressure for large periods of the match.
And while the Bulls were just as scrappy in the first half, they turned around a lot more clinical in the second, scoring when it mattered to give their season a massive boost.
It ends in victory for the Vodacom Bulls 🐂
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) February 17, 2024
Jake White's men move to the top of the Vodacom #URC standings 🔝
We are in Durban for the Coastal Derby next 🦈🆚⛈#LIOvBUL pic.twitter.com/Drkw0ykLgc
Jake White’s side can look forward with confidence now to their next game in two weeks time against the DHL Stormers, which is likely to be a cracker.
For the Lions it was too much of a familiar sight, as their promising start to the season slowly seems to be sinking backwards as old habits take centre stage. With this sort of form they may struggle to make the top eight of the URC.
While the Lions were the first on the scoreboard, the Bulls hit hard early on with Canan Moodie celebrating his return to the Bulls side by finishing off an exceptional break by Embrose Papier.
Papier, who is playing some of the best rugby of his career, was given an inside pass and weaved his way through forwards to dart downfield, taking the ball to the 22m area before passing to Moodie, who ran a beauty of an inside line inside him.
Moodie was ankle tapped by Henco van Wyk five metres out but wasn’t held, allowing him to spring up and get over the line to score
Former Boland Landbou star, Canan Moodie, finishes off a lightning break from the Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby! ⚡️ 🔥@vodacom #URC | #OriginRound | #GrassrootToGreatness | #LIOvBUL pic.twitter.com/R6QpzvYT5z
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) February 17, 2024
PRIZED BONUS POINT
There wasn’t too much more of note in the first half, other than Jaco van der Walt’s struggles with the boot, missing the conversion and a long range penalty on halftime that could have given his team a bigger lead than the 5-3 advantage they had as they headed to the sheds.
The second half saw a more settled Bulls side, along with a range of substitutes tilt the game back in the favour of the visiting side.
It started with Akker van der Merwe going over at the back of a rolling maul, as the Bulls pack demolished their Lions counterparts to grab the points on offer.
Then after pounding the Lions line numerous times, another replacement, Marcell Coetzee, broke through from close range to go over.
With a penalty from replacement flyhalf Johan Goosen it made the scoreline a healthy 20-3 lead.
The Lions had a try denied from a forward pass as Richard Kriel went over in the corner, but they narrowed the deficit by seven when a chip over the defensive line beat Papier on the bounce and Quan Horn pounced to score.
However, no sooner had the Lions celebrated than the Bulls pounced again - this time from David Kriel who had chipped over the defence and chased down his own kick, literally taking it out of the hands of his brother Richard to score in the corner and give the Bulls their prized bonus point.
David Kriel former Eikestad Primary youth brings the magic! 🪄
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) February 17, 2024
Vodacom @bluebullsrugby@vodacom #URC | #OriginRound | #GrassrootToGreatness | #LIOvBUL pic.twitter.com/ncr8KxnUFr
While replays may have shown some doubt in the try, the reffing team confirmed it, prompting Kriel to celebrate and the Bulls to know they would take full points for their drive across the Jukskei.
The Lions kept the pressure up but the Bulls defence, which had been good all game, held the final Lions attack up over the line to get the blast of the final whistle.
SCORERS
EMIRATES LIONS - try: Quan Horn.
Conversion: Sanele Nohamba. Penalty: Nohamba.
VODACOM BULLS - tries: Canan Moodie, Akker van der Merwe, Marcell Coetzee, David Kriel.
Conversion: Johan Goosen.
Penalty: Goosen.