Hino Valke go down 37-13 against Vodacom Blue Bulls
The Bulls were helped by the fact that the Valke tried to run every bit of possession they had, even on their own line
THE Vodacom Blue Bulls got their Vodacom Cup campaign off to a great start with a 37-13 win (half-time 17-6) over the Hino Valke at Barnard Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The Blue Bulls scored five tries to one but their errors, lack of execution and creaking scrum cost them a more emphatic win. Still, they will be satisfied with their bonus point, with room for improvement.
They were helped in no small measure by the Valke’s eagerness to run the ball at every opportunity and by their opponents’ even more woeful execution, which saw them lose two line-outs in great attacking positions.
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The Bulls also used the occasion to give a run to their Boks Akona Ndungane and Arno Botha, both recovering from injury.
While the Valke were first on the scoreboard with an early penalty by Juan Kotze, it took the Bulls just 10 minutes to score their first try. They showed their intent early by opting for the line out whenever they got a penalty.
First the ball was send down the line for wing Travis Ismaiel to score, and eight minutes later flank Roelof Smit was driven over for a 10-3 lead. Kotze added another penalty to reduce the deficit but the Bulls hit back from turnover ball when Blitzbok Warrick Gelant weaved his way through.
What made that even more painful was that the Valke had a man advantage after Bulls wing Jamba Ulengo was sin-binned for taking a man out in the air. Their attacking intent was lost when their line out faltered, and they made a series of over-eager errors. All the while, they were putting pressure on the Bulls scrum but failing to capitalise. They were lucky to trail just 6-17 at half-time.
After the break, though, they reduced the scoreline gap to just four points when, from a lineout, Kotze put through a grubber kick for Andrew van Wyk to run on to. But it was one-way traffic after that.
The Bulls were helped by the fact that the Valke tried to run every bit of possession they had, even on their own line, and were pinned in their own half. Marais added two penalties before centre Marquit September shrugged off two tacklers to score the bonus-point try, and hooker Arno van Wyk rounded off the scoring with a short-range try from a tap-penalty.
Scorers:
Valke: Try: Andrew van Wyk. Conversion: Juan Kotze. Penalties: Kotze (2)
Blue Bulls: Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Roelof Smit, Warrick Gelant, Marquit September, Arno van Wyk. Conversions: Kobus Marais (3). Penalties: Marais (2).
