Having watched the Bulls vs Lions match again from a PVR Recording and after calming down from the elation during and following the battle at Loftus here are some thoughts on a most enthrawling game.

The Bulls won this local derby by a handsome 51 / 11, scoring 6 second half tries most other teams in the world would be envious of.

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In the first minutes of the match there was the usual hit and parry between 2 rivals, both teams realising the importance of the outcome.

The Lions, of course, aiming for their first win in a dubious season, the Bulls fully aware that they needed to win to keep their campaign on track after a poor showing against the Reds.

The Lions had clearly decided to front up better on defence and came out strong, so strong that one can say they slightly had the better of the first 13 minutes. At the 13 minute mark they took the lead via a Herkie Kruger penalty… first blood to the Lions.

The mind shift in the Bulls quickly set in though and they struck back, first with an equalising penalty by Morne Steyn and then gradually growing stronger and stronger. Morne Steyn built the Bulls innings with 3 more penalties, his kicking boots once again in faultless form.

After the half hour mark came a renewed surge from the Lions and finally they put together a flawless and quite sublime backline movement to the left, sending the ball with precision to the left wing, Wandile Mjekevu, who evaded the last bit of defence to score his try near the left touch line. Herkie Kruger was unsuccessful with the conversion and the score became Bulls 12 / Lions 8.

At halftime stern words must have fallen on the ears of both teams from their coaches and although the Bulls had already enjoyed 62% of possession and more than a good measure of territorial dominance, the fact that they were still tryless and only 4 points ahead, must have been a concern.

After halftime the Bulls came out with even more purpose, took the game by the scruff of the neck and immediately started to dominate.

Early in the 2nd half came a chance for a lineout near to the Lions tryline and one instinctively knew the driving maul was the obvious answer. The ball was won and the Bulls used the driving maul to absolute perfection to send Derick Kuun over for the Bulls 1st try of the day. Morne Steyn converted and the score was 19 / 8.

The Lions did not give up though and crawled slightly nearer with another Herkie Kruger penalty, score now 19 / 11.

At this stage, almost three quarters through the game it looked highly unlikely that the Bulls would come near a bonus point for tries and when a penalty opportunity presented itself, Victor Matfield instructed Morne Steyn to go for posts again. Morne obliged and successfully chased the ball through the posts. The score was now 22 / 11.

With this buffer in hand the Bulls suddenly went up a few gears and from a backline movement right, Zane Kirshner put a clever grubber through, with Gerhard van den Heever chasing the ball down like a bat out of hell. With masterfull control he first ghosted past the opposition and then cleverly tucked his feet up just enough not to go touch and goal and grabbed the ball out of the air at the same time to score an absolute beauty on the right side of the field. (see photos)

Morne once again had no problems with a conversion from the touch line and the score had suddenly ballooned to Bulls 29 / 11.

This was only the start of 5th gear though, because soon thereafter the Bulls backline sent Gerhard van den Heever through for his 2nd try, with Zane Kirshner once again delivering the final pass.

This time Morne missed his 1st kick of the day and the score was now Bulls 34 / 11.

It was clear that the Lions’ tank was now on empty!

The Bulls were now in destructive form and 3 more tries was about to follow, first one by Morne Steyn, from constant pressure by the Bulls within the Lions 22m line. Morne duly converted to make the score now 41 / 11.

The next try came via Wynand Olivier, at outside centre, after a sublime break and run by Jacques-Louis Potgieter at inside centre, then flinging the ball wide left to a flying Wynand. Jacques-Louis failed to convert the try,  the score now totally out of control at 46 / 11.

The last Bulls try came after the full time hooter and after more consistent pressure deep within the Lions 22m area. The Bulls punched wide left, to a smallish blind side, Fourie du Preez passed to John Mametsa who powered his way over with 3 Lions trying to hang on. Morne missed the conversion.

The referee ended the match, putting the Lions out of their misery, final score Bulls 51 / Lions 11.

Game stats indicate that the Bulls had the lion share of possession and territory, pun intended!

After match Interviews:

It was the Lions turn 1st for the after match interview and I’d thought of a few questions I wanted to pose to Baywatch Grobbelaar and Dick Muir…… but who arrived… only Dick Muir, dressed in a black suit to go with his mood.

The man was clearly beaten, dumb struck and dejected.

In all the previous post match interviews I had been to, where the losing coach and captain appeared, they were honest and open. In Tricky Dicky’s case he was evasive, specially in response to 2 questions from me regarding his squad system. I first asked whether he was nearer to his preferred 22, seeing as this week he made minimal changes, only those which were injury enforced.

He was evasive, talking about successful rotation of players… et cettera, et cettera… blah, blah, blah.

I then mentioned consistency in selection by the Bulls and Stormers and suggested that it was clearly not the case at the Lions, trying to box Muir into a corner…. well the man just blabbed on about rotation whilst looking me straight in the eye.

At this point it hurt to think that this man was envolved with our beloved Bokke!

Then it was the turn of Frans Ludeke and Victor Matfield. They appeared relaxed, were once again clear and to the point, no evasive action.

They were both obviously happy with the result and Victor said that they were most happy that their destiny is squarely in their own hands, and always had been.

When asked what they feel about other teams chances Victor admitted that it’s only human to be aware of the other results and positions but that they want to continue running their own race.

Following the successful implimentation of Jacques-Louis Potgieter at No 12 with Wynand Olivier at No 13 (following Jaco Pretorius’s substitution in the 1st half), I asked Frans Ludeke whether he had considered to start those 2 from now in games on as the centre pairing. Kudo’s to Ludeke, he clearly told me that that was a selection poser to which we as media would not be privvy…. in other words he told me nicely that this was none of our business… hahahaha… without being nasty in the slightest.

About the injury front at the Bulls he said that Monday was the day to take stock, but also said it appears that Bakkies would now be ready, so too Chilliboy and that the only concerns really was Jaco van der Westhuizen and Jaco Pretorius.

I asked Victor whether there was any credence to the rugby public’s thinking that some Bulls players needed rest. He was straight forward in answering that they all feel that they are being managed well and that he, for instance, had hardly practiced in the last 2 weeks down under, as part of how he was managed.

It’s still awesome to be a Bulls supporter, watch out those who are yet to meet the juggernaut!

Go Bulls!