Although the Bulls easily beat the Reds from Brisbane on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld with 41-22, they could not manage to earn a bonus point from this game.

It was the Reds who scored first. After they had an impressive start, right wing Chris Feauai-Sautia went over in the right corner.

This came after the visitors easily had the Bulls in reverse gear in the first scrum of the afternoon. A few phases later the ball went neatly along their backs to where Feauai-Sautia dived over without a defender in front of him.

Only in the 10 minutes before halftime it looked as if the Bulls engine finally warmed up. After good interplay between forwards and backs, Marcel van der Merwe was enabled to drive over and score.

A few minutes later it was Adriaan Strauss’ turn to burst over with great power, when the Bulls took the ball through several phases.

Shortly before halftime, the Reds’ flanker, Liam Gill showed his kicking talent when he was successful with a neat drop goal to bring the score to 17-8 at half time.

After the break it seemed the Bulls would continue where they left off in the last 10 minutes of the first half. They brilliantly attacked and after a few promising movements the try of the day followed. Jan Serfontein’s perfect kick in the proverbial box was picked up by Jessie Kriel. He passed to Brummer, who again passed to Lappies Labuschagne, who ran about 25 meters before he dived over.

Just when it appeared that the Bulls were in control of the game, their old problem of losing focus kicked in again. The Reds took the initiative for about 20 minutes. After two superb tries by Samu Kerevi it would seem the Bulls not only lost focus but also initiative.

Only when Travis Ismaiel scored a lovely try halfway through the second half, the Bulls could breathe again.

Piet van Zyl’s try 10 minutes before the final whistle, set the outcome of the match beyond doubt, but they had to score once more for the bonus point.

However, the home team could not manage to do so despite several lost chances.

SCORERS:

BULLS: 41 Tries: Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Lappies Labuschaghe, Travis Ismaiel, Piet van Zyl. Convertions: Francois Brummer (5). Penalties: Francois Brummer (2).

REDS: 22 Tries: Chris Feauai-Sautia, Samu Kerevi (2). Convertions: Jake McIntyre (2). Dropkick: Liam Gill.

Bulls: 15 SP Marais, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboko, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Deon Stegmann, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Dan Kriel.

Reds: 15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Anthony Fainga’a, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Ben Matwijow, 4 Cadeyrn Neville, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 James Slipper (captain). Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Sef Fa’agase, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Lukhan Tui, 20 Curtis Browning, 21 James Tuttle, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Ayumu Goromaru.

Referee: Angus Gardner

Assistant referees: Jaco van Heerden, AJ Jacobs

Television match official: Johan Greeff