The Cheetahs hosted the Bulls tonight in the 1st South African game of the 2010 Super 14 season. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was televised on SuperSport 1 in South Africa. The Bulls bagged full log points, scoring 5 tries and a penalty try in the process, against the Cheetahs 3 very well worked tries.

from the official Bulls website

The Vodacom Bulls kicked off their Vodacom Super 14 campaign in the best possible way by beating the Vodacom Cheetahs 51-34 in Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Bulls scored five tries and was awarded a penalty try as well, securing a bonus point away from home.

The Bulls had to recover the lead three times in the first half after the furious start by the Cheetahs saw them scoring in the opening minute of the game.

The accurate boot of Morné Steyn, who succeeded with eight of his nine attempts at goal, kept the scoreboard ticking along.

A try by Lionel Mapoe rocked the Bulls, but after Jaco Pretorius scored his first Super 14 try for the Bulls, they edged ahead.

Naas Olivier kept his side in the game with the boot, but a well-taken try by Steyn and a penalty shortly thereafter, saw the Bulls comfortably ahead at the break.

Olivier opened the scoring in the second half, but two tries in quick succession by Gerhard van den Heever and Zane Kirchner had the Bulls in command again.

The home side struck back though with two well taken tries of their own to make it a six point game.

The lights at Vodacom Park then tripped, resulting in an eight minute delay to play, but the Bulls recovered best when Wynand Olivier sliced through the defence to score.

A late penalty try after a strong scrum by the Bulls secured a convincing win.

Coach Frans Ludeke was a happy man afterwards.

“We still have areas to work on, but this is a fine win and the bonus point is a good reward for our play. I was impressed by the step-up in the scrums and it is great to see our hard word in that department paying off.”

Captain Victor Matfield warned that other teams will not find the Cheetahs an easy target this year.

“They really came back at us, but we scored some great tries when it mattered. We need to improve in certain areas, but for now, this was a very rewarding win.”

Scores:

Cheetahs: 1 Try Lionel Mapoe, 5 Penalties & 2 Conversion2 Naas Olivier, 1 Try Juan Smith, 1 Try Jonghi Nokwe

Bulls: 3 Penalties & 5 Conversions & 1 Try Morné Steyn, 1 Try Jaco Pretorius, 1 Try Gerhard van den Heever, 1 try Zane Kirchner, 1 Try Wynand Olivier, 1 Penalty Try, 1 Conversion Jacques-Louis Potgieter

Previous Super 14 results:

2009: Bulls won 29-20 (Pretoria)
2008: Bulls won 60-20 (Bloemfontein)
2007: Bulls won 24-20 (Pretoria)
2006: Bulls won 30-18 (Bloemfontein)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Frans Viljoen, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Danwel Demas.

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.

Date: Friday, February 12
Venue: Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referee: Marius Jonker, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Shaun Veldsman