The Western Province took on the Blue Bulls at Newlands in Cape Town at 17:05, local time today in the return match in the Currie Cup. Wp won the match by dominating the Blue Bulls in the scrums, specially at loose head, where Wicus Blaauw dominated the Buls tight head, Werer Kruger. Wp won 25 / 19.
Fullback Joe Pietersen scored 20 points as Vodacom Western Province fought their way to a 25 / 19 (halftime 12 / 16) ABSA Currie Cup win over the Blue Bulls at Newlands on Saturday.
Victory lifted WP to 32 points on the standings, but they dropped to second place behind the Sharks on points’ difference. Still, beating the Bulls was all that counted and after falling behind 13 / 3 after 21 minutes it was a gutsy performance that cemented their credentials as potential Cup winners.
The WP tight five again dominated the tight exchanges, and the home team’s solitary try was a direct result of that unit’s power in the scrum when they destroyed the Bulls pack, allowing No 8 Luke Watson to score off the back in the 60th minute.
For the Bulls flyhalf Burton Francis contributed 14 points from four penalties and a conversion with centre Jaco Pretorius scoring their one try.
The first half was a torrid, physical affair with the Bulls starting the match with the kind of desperation you’d expect from a side that lost the week before.
The visitors forced a turnover from the kick-off after smothering WP lock Chris Jack as he claimed the ball. Although the big All Black had possession he was driven back and the Bulls were awarded a scrum.
From that set piece they camped inside WP territory and eventually the multi-phase possession took its toll with the home side forced to illegally slow the ball at the ruck. From the penalty Francis slotted the first of his penalties.
The Bulls maintained the pressure over the next 20 minutes and earned another easy penalty in the ninth minute that Francis duly slotted.
The only try of the half followed in the 21st minute when Pretorius slipped over in the corner after a build-up that went through five phases and ended with a clever over-the-top pass by centre Stefan Watermeyer to Pretorius.
But that signalled the beginning of WP’s total dominance as they rallied from the set back. For the remainder of the half they pounded the Bulls line repeatedly but couldn’t force a way through the organised and, at times, cynical defence.
Pietersen slotted penalties in the 25th, 27th and 40th minutes to add to his 19th minute penalty to keep the home side in the game while Francis added another Bulls penalty on the half hour.
In the second half Pietersen popped over two more penalties in the 46th and 55th minutes as the territory stats moved over 70% in favour of the home side. In the face of such unrelenting pressure the Bulls were forced into errors and blatant cynical play to stem the flow of ball in the direction of their line.
The match was still in the balance until Watson crashed over, which was just reward for the dominance that WP enjoyed and from that moment the Bulls were a beaten side. They managed a penalty after the finals whistle to secure a bonus point, but a home semi-final is now a long way off.
Scorers:
Bulls: 4 Penalties Burton Francis & 1 conversion, try by Jaco Pretorius
WP: 6 penalies Joe Petersen & 1 conversion, try by Luke Watson
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Hanyani Shimange, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Frikkie Welsh, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Dewald Potgieter, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Jacques Burger, 20 Dean Greyling, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Tiger Mangweni.
Referee: Pro Legoete
Assistant referees: Tiaan Jonker, Peter Allen (Scotland)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
296@tight head – Yip, WP won the match because of the scrum battle, specifically due to the woeful Bulls tight head, Werner Kruger.
This gave WP valuable penalties, from which they scored and gained valuable ground and momentum…
That’s why I wanted you here on this blog as a writer, so we can educate our fellow bloggers, arming them with valuable insight into the game we love.
@Pietman – 297
Yes a bottle with a red lable
The hotel in Eshowe used to sponsor us with a meal and two Lion Ales after practice and games Faark this takes me back many years
OK guys I´m out
Aufwedershen Heeren
And drink drink a toast to the kiwis.
The rain and the butterfly
The rain may kiss the butterfly
and the wine the glass
and you my Kiwi friends
….good luck.
@superBul –
The total problem with the Bulls scrum starts with Werner.
Once he has been destroyed the rest of the pack just folds.
Werner is technically nowhere.
I simply find it hard to believe that the Bulls cannot find a tight head.
Wat die Bokke betref: volgende week moet net oor een ding gaan: wen, al is dit 3-0. Dit beteken om die game uit te ‘grain’, hul in die hoeke vas te pen en baie druk op hul te plaas met skitterende verdediging. AB’s sal die bal rond moet gooi om drieë te druk, en dit is waar ons hul moet vaspen.
Daarom sal Snorre sy beste verdedigers moet speel. En een van ons beste verdedigers, is niemand anders as WO nie. Ek sal hom vleuel speel, want sy verdediging is baie dodeliker as Odwa en Adi s’n. Dalk sal dit ook goed wees om die vars bene van Kanko ten minste op die bank te hê, daar was ‘n paar bokke wat moeg gelyk het, en ek wonder of Bakkies heeltemal reg was.
304 @tight head – het jy al vir Frik Kirsten sien speel, en indien wel, lyk hy beter ?
303@4man – Cheers sammajoor
Good game. Bit perplexed by the ref though, maybe I should go read the laws again. It’s apparent that I know noffing
@bdb –
I think there are 2 important things that have improved the WP scrumming.
Firstly they now have a very good scrum coach and secondly those 2 props that you mention have now served some of their apprenticeship.
There is no substitute for experience in the front row.
@tight head – Why is he the culprit? I ask because i dont know and to me he is targeted like Brok was last year. What technical faults does he make.
@bdb –
I have only watched him once, but he is a better scrummager than Werner.
@tight head – 309
Howzit TH
They are only 22 and 23 reapectively I think. Bodes well for WP going forward
@superBul –
The points that I have raised in my article about John Smit apply to Werner.
However I am starting to seriously doubt whether Werner has it to become a tight head.
He is really very bad.
304@tight head – I believe Werner is the weak anchor… but in addition, WP’s 2 props suddenly have 2 bloody good locks behind them in the scrum, compared to the Bulls No 4 and 5 choice locks (behind Vic and Bakkies and Danie Rossouw)
@grootblousmile –
Yes GBS, I agree about the locks, and the added advantage is that they have Mathew Proudfoot to bring the best out of the tight five.
315@tight head – I hear about Mathew Proudfoot…. good coach…
What do you think about Dougie Heymans as a scrumming coach ?? I rate him highly.
@tight head – 313
well then someone must tell the Bulls to cut their loss and replace him. They invested a lot of game time in him and he looked like the most promising TH
Ek sou graag wou sien dat die Bulle dalk aan die volgende voorry begin werk: Dean Greyling, ‘n sterk skrumhaker, Kirsten.
Ludeke sal sekerlik nie nou vir Kuun vervang nie, maar dan sal ek die volgende voorry inspan as die bokke terug is:
Guthro, Kuun, Kirsten (met Dean en Werner op die bank).
Eish, waar is die dae van Christo Bezudenhout, Kaths en Daan Dup, of, Bands, Danie C en Lensing.
@grootblousmile –
Yes, Dougie Heymans is highly respected and was a very good technical scrummager.
I just popped in quickly manne.
Have to get going now.
Enjoy the evening.
Good night all!!
317@superBul – ek dink nogsteeds as ons ‘n sterker skrumhaker kan kry, sal Werner baie beter doen.
320@tight head – Good night my knowledgeable rugby tjommie.
321@bdb – Daarmee kan ek nie fout vind nie…. Jaco Engels vir haker !!
@tight head – De Villiers said Bryan Habana, who left the field in the first half with an injury, had a tight hamstring.
“The risk of keeping him on was far greater than taking him off,” he said.
He said the scrums, where South Africa have struggled in recent weeks, had become the “new grey area of rugby”.
“It used to be the breakdown, now it is the scrum. You do not know which way it is going to go and sometimes it is more guesswork,” he said.
Nouja, met so 9 MAAL die comments as van die ander plekke… groet ek julle….
Goeie nag, slaap sag…
… en dankie vir alles wat julle tjomme vir hierdie geselsplek beteken…
Die lewe is ‘n LIED, sing hom uit volle bors !
Ek weet ek het dit laasweek gesê, maar dit geld nog meer vir volgende saterdag: as WP en Sharks wen volgende week, dan behoort hul die semi’s tuis aan te bied.
Bulle, Cthas, Leeus en GKW sal dan moet veg vir 3 en 4.
323 @grootblousmile – ja, ons sal ou Ludeke maar persoonlik moet gaan sien oor daai een. Dean Greyling kan dalk ook werk. Maar, Chili het klaar nog ‘n kontrak gesluit. Ons sal maar vrede moet maak daarmee.
Loosehead to rugby-talk…………..anybody out there?
Ok, party over…where are you all???
So today we have decided that the Boks can’t scrum and Bulls need their Boks back (urgently)!!!
Nothing happening here, suppose I have to go to bed! 🙁
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As ek so deur die post lees is die manne se pyn taamlik groot vandag! Kan julle nou wraagtag glo dat Luke Watson en sy klomp bergbobbejane die magtige bulle so maklik ore aangesit het! Die telling vlei die bulls, WP het uit en uit die game oorheers. Net konstante negatiewe spel deur die Bulls en swak besluitneming deur die WP het gekeer dat die WP nog meer punte aanteken.
Verloor die Bulls volgende week teen die Sardyne……ai, ai, ai 😈
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