The Platinum Leopards hosted the Blue Bulls in the last match for both teams in the play-off rounds for the Currie Cup of 2009. The Bulls won convincingly 61 / 24.

SA Rugby had the following to say about the match:

The Blue Bulls secured a great win in the final round of the Currie Cup when they defeated a game Platinum Leopards side 61-24 on Friday.

The Bulls’ Deon Stegman scored the first points of the night barely six minutes after kick off after the Bulls elected to kick for line outs twice. They secured the ball and the Leopards couldn’t stop the rolling maul. 

Six minutes later the Bulls were in the exact same position — they secured the ball but this time the home team were ready and defended heroically to prevent a try millimeters from the goal line. Draad Linde and Thabo Mamojele were dominant in the defence.

With 16 minutes on the clock Wynand Olivier darted through in midfield, popped to Zane Kirchner, caught the whole Leopards back line off guard and planted the ball in the corner for the second try of the night. Morne Steyn converted and the Bulls were leading 14-0. 

Just when the Bulls appeared to have settled in, the home side’s Jovan Bowles intercepted, ran through on his own and dotted down under the poles. Cecil Dumond converted and the score was 14-7.

Immediately after that, the Leopards’ Bom Samaai had the Bulls at sixes and sevens when he side stepped a few big names and had them groping for air but Kirchner secured in the back. 

The Bulls’ third try came from a scrum in front of the Leopards posts, Heini Adams played quickly, and Morne Steyn bluffed all and galloped through. He converted his own try to help the Bulls to a 21-10 lead. 

The home team however never gave up trying and Nicky Kritzinger decided on a short kick into no mans’ land, Kirchner and Steyn couldn’t secure and the ever present Samaai picked up and dotted down for the Leopards’ second try of the evening. 

The score was 21-17 at half time. 

The Bulls wasted no time in setting up camp on the Leopards goal line at the start of the second half and within five minutes big Bakkies Botha found a huge gap and fell over for the first points of the second half. This was followed by a brilliant try by Olivier. 

There had been no play in the Bulls’ half since the break and the Leopards werre struggling to block the gaps. Seconds later Francois Hougaard made sure his name was on the score card when he was driven over by his forwards. Then it was the turn of Gerhard van den Heever, twice and Jaco Pretorius who also took part in the try fest. 

In the last five minutes the Leopards came with a charge, but were held up in goal. Their persistence paid off when replacement scrumhalf Theo van Wyk was eventually forced over by his team mates for a late consolation try.

Points:

Leopards: 2 Conversions & 1 Penalty Cecil Dumond, 1 Conversion Clayton Durand, 1 Try Jovan Bowles, 1 Try Shuib Samaai, 1 Try Theo van Wyk

Bulls: 6 Conversions Morne Steyn & 2 Conversions Burton Francis, 1 Try Deo Stegmann, 1 Try Zane Kirchner, 1 Try Morne Steyn, 1 Try Bakkies Botha, 1 Try Wynand Olivier, 1 Try Francois Hougaard, 2 Tries Gerhard van den Heever, 1 Try Jaco Pretorius

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Colin Lloyd, 14 Nicky Kritzinger, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Shuaib Samaai, 10 Cecil Dumont, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Christo van Niekerk, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Wilhelm Koch (captain), 5 Edrich Linde, 4 Bradley Mockford, 3 Barend van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Nardus Lombard
Replacements: 16 Martinus van der Westhuizen, 17 Philip Lemmer, 18 Bennie Adams, 19 RW Kember, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Berndt Theissinger

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier , 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Pedrie Wannenburg, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Burton Francis, 22 John Mametsa

Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Arrie Schoonwinkel