Bulls dominate the Reds
The Bulls opened their Super 14 campaign with a convincing 33-20 win over the Reds at Loftus Versfeld.
Last Updated: 17/02/09 12:01pm
The Bulls opened their Super 14 campaign with a convincing 33-20 win over the Reds at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
From a platform built on scrum domination, the Bulls backs showed enough enterprise and creativity to score three tries before number eight Pierre Spies sealed the bonus point with one of his own.
Despite what the scoreline might imply, the Reds produced a solid defensive performance.
The Bulls made their intentions to move the ball around very clear from the opening whistle.
The confidence of the home side was clear as even Victor Matfield tried his hand at chipping ahead in the early stages. But the Bulls' confidence was perhaps a touch premature and their over-eagerness to play running rugby bore little fruit in the first half against a well-drilled Reds defence.
The Bulls impatience and failure to build pressure through the phases meant the Reds were able to survive the opening 15 minutes despite hardly touching the ball.
Lucas penalty
In fact a Ben Lucas penalty just inside of the first quarter made the score three all after Morné Steyn had opened the Bulls' account 10 minutes earlier.
A drop goal from centre Berrick Barnes actually gave the Reds the lead after 20 minutes, despite only having 25 per cent of the possession and even less territory until then.
Barnes' snap shot got the Reds going as they fought their way back into what was an evenly contested game until Fourie du Preez did what he does best - swinging the match in his team's favour.
A massive scrum from the Bulls pack had Reds scrum-half Ben Lucas under pressure and his Springbok counterpart made it count, knocking Lucas' hand while in the act of passing. The ball fell loose and Du Preez pounced to put his team ahead just before the break.
The home side opened the gap shortly after returning from the change rooms when Wynand Olivier scored. The experienced centre came flying in on switch pass form Steyn leaving Lucas little chance of stopping him. A penalty from Steyn a few minutes later rounded off a near perfect five minutes for the Bulls.
Matfield injury
Matfield was forced to leave the field after 50 minutes with a shoulder injury after a heavy fall.
The Reds were not about to lie down, though, and when Digby Ioane found a gap next to a ruck and sprinted 50 metres to score, stepping Zane Kirchner along the way, the visitors had hope.
But a yellow card handed to lock Adam Byrnes did the Australian's cause no good. Byrnes came flying almost horizontally into a ruck - with no arms - and had to walk.
With less than a minute left on Byrnes' sin-bin time, replacement fly-half Burton Francis moved the Bulls further ahead by scoring with his first touch of the ball, Steyn once again providing the telling pass.
Leading by 10 points with 15 minutes to play the Bulls began to turn the screw as the altitude started taking its toll on the weary Reds defence.
The home side's advantage at scrum time earned them a bonus point when Spies wrapped around the pack off the immovable set piece, produced a huge hand off and cruised over.
A last-minute try for Peter Hynes added some respectability to the Reds score.
