Blue Bulls overwhelm Griquas despite loss of focus in second half
The Blue Bulls are still at the top of the Currie Cup log, after their good victory on Friday night against Griquas.
The Blue Bulls ran out 48-38 winners over Griquas in an action-packed Currie Cup clash of two halves that served up 13 tries at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
Although coach Gert Smal will be concerned about the six tries leaked by his team’s defence, he can generally feel satisfied with the way they themselves scored seven times with their attacking approach against the dangerous Northern Cape men.
Loaded with several United Rugby Championship stars, the defending champions were accurate from the outset, playing with enterprise and at a pace that earned them the four-try bonus-point after just 29 minutes and a commanding 36-5 half-time lead.
Ten minutes into the second half, yellow cards to Lizo Gqoboka and Madosh Tambwe in quick succession breathed new life into the contest with Griquas closing the deficit to 41-24 in the 10-minute period they had a two-man advantage through a penalty try and touchdowns by Munier Hartzenberg and Hanru Sirgel.
Despite a try from Harold Vorster, momentum stayed with the never-say-die visitors, who scored two more tries to reduce the gap to 10 before they conceded a yellow card of their own at the end of a breathless battle that saw the Bulls finish the round where they started it – at the top of the table.
After the latest round of action, the Bulls lead the standings with one point more than the unbeaten Cheetahs. The men from Pretoria are on 37 points and the Free Staters on 36, but the defending champions have played one more game.
The top teams at the top are followed by the Sharks in third (24 points after nine games), fourth-placed Griquas (21 points after nine games), the Pumas (19 points after eight games), Western Province (9 points after eight games) and the Lions (3 points after nine games).
Next weekend, the Cheetahs host the Sharks in Bloemfontein while the Bulls are home in the Jukskei River derby with neighbours Sigma Lions, and Western Province travel to the Lowveld to take on the Pumas in Nelspruit.
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