Province pip pitiful Bulls
8 Jul 2006
The Vodacom Blue Bulls tasted a rare defeat at Loftus Versfeld as Vodacom Western Province beat them 15-10 in a hard-fought Absa Currie Cup match on Saturday.
Province led 15-3 at half-time and only a Stefan Basson try two minutes from time gave the visitors cause for concern and they weathered the last two minutes rather easily. In the end Luke Watson led his team to a thoroughly deserved win that should have been more comfortable on the scoreboard.
Watson was outstanding throughout and secured plenty of ball at the breakdown, beating Warren Brosnihan virtually every single time.
The Bulls, coached officially for the first time by Pote Human, never really got out of second gear as they were harassed into far too many errors to compete properly.
The Bulls had the better of the tight phases in the first 40 minutes, but struggled to convert that advantage into something tangible. Province on the other hand looked dangerous with ball in hand, with Joe Pietersen and Gio Aplon particularly impressive.
The Bulls had Basson who was outstanding, but was unable to lift his team-mates who were flat for much of the first half. Flank Tim Dlulane was also superb and earned many hard yards carrying the ball, but lacked the necessary support from a lethargic and uninspired home team.
Wessel Roux playing in his 100th match for Blue Bulls was giving Province tighthead Brock Harris a torrid time in the scrums. Bolla Conradie though found some zip and despite playing behind a beaten pack was able to release his exciting backs more often than not.
The visitors were first on the board after 13 minutes when a well-worked move saw left wing Egon Seconds cut in when it seemed better to look wide, but he broke several tackles to score.
Province was barely under pressure in their own half and after conceding a 16th minute Morne Steyn three-pointer, they deservedly went 10-3 up thanks to an Olivier penalty.
A controversial TMO try to Joe Pietersen in the dying minutes of the first half took the visitors to a 12-point cushion at the break. And they maintained that for a further 38 minutes.
Despite the Bulls having both captain Frikkie Welsh (playing his 50th match) and scrumhalf Heini Adams sin-binned within a minute of each other about six minutes into the half, the Bulls held on to trail by the same score.
Those dismissals however sapped an already shaky resolve and although they returned to 15 men without any impact on the scoreboard the extra effort require ensured that Province were always on top.
The late try by the impressive Basson though does earn the Bulls a bonus point, while WP go home with four valuable log points.
Bulls - Tries: Stefan Basson. Conversions: Morne Steyn 1. Penalties: Steyn 1.
WP - Tries: Egon Seconds, Joe Pietersen. Conversions: Naas Olivier 1. Penalties: Olivier 1.
By Andrew Hollely, at Loftus Versfeld
Key moments:
78 mins: Bulls throw everything into attack, and are rewarded when Basson caps a superb individual performance with a try in the corner. Steyn converts quickly. (2/2) WP 15-10
75 mins: A massive tackle by replacement forward Hilton Lobberts on Conradie stops an almost certain WP try that would have sealed the result.
73 mins: A great break by Basson from inside his 22 is smothered by determined Province defence. It is ultimately what seems to have won the game for the visitors.
67 mins: Steyn puts a penalty kick out 7m from the Province line. Bulls attack. Another penalty and again Steyn goes for touch, this time 5m out. Province’s defence is just too good and they earn a scrum.
65 mins: Bulls are making most of the play, but mistakes are costing them dearly. Province are doing enough to keep the Bulls at bay and it looks like there is no way through.
61 mins: Olivier lines up a a kick from on halfway, but it slides to the left and the score remains at the half-time score of 15-3 to WP. (2/5)
57 mins: Adams returns to take the Bulls back to a full compliment of 15, with the Bulls on attack.
55 mins: Welsh is back. Bulls up to 14 men.
53 mins: Luke Watson continues to lead from the front. Apart from his scavenging at the breakdown, he sets Conradie up to put Seconds away. The TMO rules he hits the corner flag before dotting down.
49 mins: Bulls attack through Tim Dlulane and Gary Botha, but kick the ball away when they should be protecting it with all they are worth. WP lineout on halfway.
47 mins: A minute later scrumhalf Heini Adams is given his marching orders for hands in the ruck and the Bulls are down to 13 against 15.
46 mins: The Bulls problems are compounded as captain Frikkie Welsh is sin-binned for over-zealous rucking.
43 mins: Roux off for blood. Kaco Engels on. Penalty Bulls. Steyn kicks to touch just inside WP 22.
41 mins: Province immediately on the attack from the restart. Scrum Bulls on their 22 and they clear.
HALF-TIME: BULLS 3 WP 15
37 mins: WP string a few good passes together and eventually Joe Pietersen goes over in the corner for what looks like a good try. The TMO is called and after much deliberation he awards the try. Expect controversy after this decision by Jaco Peyper from Free State. Olivier misses the conversion. (2/4) WP 15-3
34 mins: Olivier kicks an easy penalty to stretch the lead. (2/3) WP 10-3
31 mins: More good play by Basson as his kick takes the Bulls deep into WP territory. Moments later he attempts an outrageous drop-goal and WP nearly come away for a try, but knock.
28 mins: Wessel Roux, playing his 100th game for the Blue Bulls is giving Brock Harris a lesson in the front row. The game has become subdued as the forward battle dominates. Too many errors from both teams to gain enough momentum.
25 mins: Excellent take from a kick by Basson, diving in his 22. His clearance kick takes play onto halfway.
23 mins: WP lineout on Bulls 22. They attack close in, but lose the ball and Basson flies up field. His pass to Mametsa is dropped and a gilt-edged chance to score a try is lost.
20 mins: Bulls starting to control the territory and possession and putting Wp under pressure. WP lineout on 22. Free kick to the visitors. Grant clears up towards halfway.
16 mins: Bulls on the board via a Steyn penalty for a punch from a WP player. (1/1) WP 7-3
12 mins: Good clearance by Steyn relieves pressure on Bulls. Province lineout just inside their half. They attack downfield and after several phases, left wing Egon Seconds cuts in to score. Olivier converts. (1/2) WP 7-0
10 mins: Bulls penalised again at the ruck and Peter Grant kicks for touch. WP lineout on Bulls 22. But they are penalised at the maul.
8 mins: WP flyhalf Naas Olivier misses a long-range penalty to the left. (0/1)
6 mins: Bulls scrum on halfway line. Conradie steals and bursts away. He is beaten to his chip by Stefan Basson for a 22 drop out.
3 mins: WP penalised for offside inside Bulls half and Steyn kicks out on the 22. Bulls secure lineout ball, but it’s terribly slow and they lose it. Province attack through Gio Aplon, but are pushed out just outside the Bulls 22.
1 min: Blue Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn kicks off.
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15. Stefan Basson, 14. John Mametsa, 13. JP Nel, 12. Frikkie Welsh (captain), 11. Marius Delport, 10. Morne Steyn, 9. Heini Adams; 8. Pedrie Wannenburg, 7. Tim Dlulane, 6. Warren Brosnihan, 5. Francois van Schouwenburg, 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Rayno Gerber, 2. Gary Botha, 1. Wessel Roux.
Replacements: 16. Kobus van der Walt, 17. Jaco Engels, 18. Hottie Louw, 19. Hilton Lobberts, 20. Neil Powell, 21. Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22. Riaan van der Bergh.
Western Province: 15. Gio Aplon, 14. Johan Pietersen, 13. Corne Uys, 12. Peter Grant, 11. Egon Seconds, 10. Naas Olivier, 9. Bolla Conradie; 8. Robbie Diack, 7. Justin Melck, 6. Luke Watson (captain), 5. Gerrie Britz, 4. Francois van der Merwe, 3. Brock Harris, 2. Schalk Brits, 1. JD Moller.
Replacements: 16. Huia Edmonds, 17. Schalk Ferreira, 18. Rob Linde, 19. Pieter Louw, 20. Paul Delport, 21. Sarel Potgieter, 22. Chumani Booi.
285 Comments
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9 Jul 2006, 12:19 pm
Lo
cry me a river.
I’ve already delt with it, you are behaving as if you just won the bloody world cup.
As Naas always says….the CC is not won in July.
42-10
9 Jul 2006, 12:23 pm
St Pete
I see you say the yellow cards were laughable. Okay WP on attack with a three man overlap and Adams slaps the ball down and gets penalised.
Then a little while later he does nearly exactly the same thing by slapping the ball out of the scrumhalfs hands. That’s two very similar professional fouls and in any decent referees books, a yellow card!
What’s laughable is the way the Bulls always blame the ref. Akona’s try was a try in the Super 14, yet Pietersens try wasn’t???
9 Jul 2006, 12:28 pm
St P
You are just showing what idiotic supporters you guys are. In fact it reminds of the English. They blame everybody else except their own inabilities when they loose. And then it doesn’t take them long to mention 1966 again.
You were terrible yesterday and from what I read and seen yesterday it will not be your only defeat this season.
15-10 have a nice day.
9 Jul 2006, 12:30 pm
Kevin W
listen…Adams is kak, but him getting sent off for exactly the same thing Watson was doing all afternoon(except Watson did it more often and more obviously) = kak decision.
Like I said.
21 odd penalties to 8 or so tells it’s own tale.
PS: You seem to have not read my post where I stated that this win has been coming for a few weeks as the WP look like a side on the UP.
9 Jul 2006, 12:32 pm
(yawn,sigh)
Take my messages guys…..I’m going for a poop.
9 Jul 2006, 12:35 pm
St Pete, take off the blinkers mate. Watson never slapped the ball out of anybody’s hands in the entire match. In fact he had a blinder and makes Jake look more stupid every week. Adams was slow to get rid of the ball and Watson was catching him, not the ball from an on-side position.
I’ll agree, afew of the penalties were dodge – but it never affected the outcome. I reckon WP put it together on the day.
And please don’t let Joost commentate on Bulls games, he is so friggin biased and then he tries not to be and sounds like a complete twat!
9 Jul 2006, 12:37 pm
Lo,
enjoy it while it lasts.
9 Jul 2006, 12:38 pm
Geniet julle dag.
9 Jul 2006, 12:40 pm
Luke for bok captain !
The man was outstanding. Good for him , hope Jake have seen the game.
9 Jul 2006, 12:44 pm
Guys lets keep our feet on the ground. We looked very good yesterday. The passion is back with the players. I think Luke is the reason for that passion.
He plays with lots of heart. All the prima donnas are gone and now we see the passion back. Let them stay where they are. Even if we lose more then we win, this team has the makings of becoming a good one.
9 Jul 2006, 12:54 pm
Luke plays intelligently,he was menacing in the rucks,often caught Adams,ran well and he put in a few kicks.What really made my day was how supportive he was in the post game speech where he encouraged the Bulls supporters to stand by their team,now some may call him arrogant…This certainly is NOT arrogance….Arrogance is what Jake and the selectors have.
We need more characters like Watson in SA Rugby
He wears his jersey with pride
9 Jul 2006, 13:08 pm
KevinW
I think St P should listen to his own advice “Cry me a river” , A 100 cc cap veteran in wessel roux scrums against a 20 yr old green horn in harris who he clearly has the better of and he just takes the hit with his hands on his knees ps u cant bind in the scrums if ur hands are on ur knees that was just lazy from a pro to be frank.
Thought that Dlulane and Basson(Another one lost by wp) performed brilliantly for the bulls as did VSchouwenburg. Dont know if dlulane is the solution to the bulls openside issue plays more like a blinside flank. I like the 6 Kuhn,7 Dlulane , 8 Wannenburg as a loose trio. Also not sure of Welsh at 12 we didnt see Nel and the other dangerous bb outside backs in space too often because he holds onto the ball too much. A credit to the bulls though that they didnt play near their potential and they were still in the game at the death. They still are one of the favs for the cc second to the cheetahs i think
For wp Watson was magnificent i think the bb supporters payed him the biggest compliment when they complained about him spoiling their ball “illegally” if that term actually exists when reffering to an openside flanker.Grant was fantastic both on defense and attack i think the 12 pos suites him better than 10. F VDMerwe a former bb(At least wp got one of theirs) was also excellent Aplon was also very good and he showed that he is no light weight , well perhaps he is light but he made some big hits and looked solid under the high ball.
9 Jul 2006, 14:24 pm
St P, I take it you’re a BB supporter. Thanks for being so gracious in defeat (#238).
If I was a BB supporter I would have felt aggrieved by some of the refs decisions, but WP have had a bad run with referees the last few years, so it’s about time things start evening out a bit in the reffing stakes.
9 Jul 2006, 14:41 pm
Guys, stop blaming the ref, and start blaming the responsible parties, i.e. the coach, the management and the players! The ref cant always be blamed if a team loses. The CC is still a long way from over..
9 Jul 2006, 16:57 pm
PROOOOOOVIIIIIINCE!!!!
9 Jul 2006, 17:15 pm
WP LAND OF THE BRAVE
9 Jul 2006, 17:26 pm
PROOOOOOOVIIINCE…………PROOOOOVIIINCE
9 Jul 2006, 17:46 pm
Spunky ,wpforever, fuzzybear,modawg , all other WP supporters answer this question
IS FESTER VD MERWE NOW FORGIVEN AS COACH OF WP ???
9 Jul 2006, 17:52 pm
SuperBul
That depends on the rest of the season and how the team plays. Remember, there wasn’t one Bok in this side and a number were new to the CC.
9 Jul 2006, 17:56 pm
I am not a WP supporter.
9 Jul 2006, 17:59 pm
I just want you guys take responsibility for your teams poor performance. But I know the bulls will do better the rest of the CC
9 Jul 2006, 18:12 pm
superbul, ek sien jy blameer die ref. Weet jy iets van voorry spel af? Die ref was reg om vor Wessel Roux te blaas. Hy is die loskop. Dit was duidelik hy was die een wat val. So waaroor kla jy?
9 Jul 2006, 18:18 pm
‘n Vaskop druk af/vorentoe en ‘n loskop druk op/vorentoe en dit veroorsaak die balans. Die reël is jou heupe mag nie hoër as jou skouers wees en jy druk vorentoe en nie in skrum in nie. Dan is die bind natuurlik belangrik. Nou as Wessel Roux duidelik nie bind nie en met sy hande op sy knieë staan (om hom te stut) beteken dit doodeenvoudig dat die vaskop die “hit” ingekry het met ‘n regterskouer. Wessel Roux kon die vaskop nie ophou nie en het geval – en vandaar die strafskop, heel tereg. Waaroor kla jy en die ander bulle? Die man was onverhoeds betrap omdat hy oorgerus geraak het.
9 Jul 2006, 18:39 pm
snoop, pasop om gister te veel in te vryf. da is nog BAIE wedstryde oor!
9 Jul 2006, 18:46 pm
I hear you spunky and am by no means suggesting anything but the fact that bulls were outthought and outplayed.
9 Jul 2006, 18:49 pm
the bulls were beaten by a greenhorn team at loftus
shame
9 Jul 2006, 18:53 pm
bulls had bad day. WP will have bad day sooner than you think. Lions had worst day of all!
9 Jul 2006, 18:57 pm
so if the one team wins its because of a bad day?
and nlt because they were outsmarted and outplayed
9 Jul 2006, 19:01 pm
the bulls are on the downward slope and will be horrendous soon they’re predictable and dour ….even when they win they’re a **** team and I feel for a bulls supporter at having to watch the uninspiring rugby they dish on saturdays.
9 Jul 2006, 19:07 pm
so your saying i’m lucky not to support them. guess you and me will be at each others throats next weekend.
9 Jul 2006, 19:13 pm
nope not talking about who you support at all
if your a cheetahs supporter you will smile next weekend . they’re on form and a decent team
province will have to put in a huge effort to win
if I had cash down it would be on the cheetahs
looking forward to the game though
9 Jul 2006, 19:26 pm
i am smiling. just hope we can pull it off. we have a good track record with wp, but anything is possible. you should never underestimate a team in the CC. I am specially worried bout sharks. they are very good these days. think they are still favourites.
10 Jul 2006, 07:50 am
Good Morning
Congratulations to the WP and their supporters for the win over the bulls. Your team played rugby in such a manner that they deserve to win.
Hope JW saw Watson and drop his head in shame.
10 Jul 2006, 09:49 am
CFB, good post #260, good win but WP have some way to go. Let them beat the Cheetahs first.
You can hardly blame the long-suffering WP supporters some fun though -this site was filled with so much anal, banal and ****-phobic arrogance from people with “bull” or “blue” in their nicks last week. It is now time to enjoy the silence from some of these guys and the excuses from others.
10 Jul 2006, 11:36 am
Nou ja, geluk aan die manne van die kolonie.
Julle was die beter span op die dag. Ek hoop jake het gesien wat Luke kan doen. Behalwe dat hy ‘n uitstekende baljagter is, dink ek ook hy is ‘n briljante kaptein. Iets wat nie volop is in SA nie.
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