Super XV Big Match Review - Cheetahs 25 - 30 Bulls

South African rugby is not always the prettiest.  I’m not just talking about the fact that the stereotypical South African forward (i.e. Bakkies Botha) has a face like a scrunched up Picasso painting, I’m of course referring to the brand of rugby.  Peter de Villiers was famed for saying ‘this isn’t ballet’ – and I for one am glad, the thought of the Beast in a tutu is a troublesome image – which is a pretty decent summary of the South African mindset: to bully, take apart and smash to pieces.

In its own way, it’s pretty beautiful.  Seeing these big boys charging through the brick walls (otherwise known as South African defenders) is physics-defyingly good to watch.  But when you have one of the best exponents of that physical game, the Bulls, in town, you know you have to up it to another level.  That meant the Cheetahs, this year’s surprise packages, would have to pull out every trick in the book to get on top of their illustrious visitors to prevent them from building an unassailable lead at the top of the South African conference.  Now, both these sides can play some pretty nice rugby at times, but on this day the attitude was always going to be to “fight power with power.”

Speaking of power, the ‘p’ word was in abundance in the opening stages as the visitors made the strongest possible start after 5 minutes.  Off the back of a rock solid scrum, the Bulls played ‘round the corner’ rugby, with runners coming from depth around the fringes of rucks to hit the line at pace and, after Chiliboy Ralapelle had made good inroads, the ball was moved left to where the ominous figure of tighthead prop Werne Kruger was lurking to crash over the line.  Morne Steyn added the conversion, but the Cheetahs have become known for their speed this year – and they certainly didn’t hang about with their response.

6 minutes later, with the referee playing an advantage for offside in a ruck, flyer Willie Le Roux noticed that there was no full back at home and so chipped and re-gathered – showing serious wheels – to score under the posts from 30 metres.  Riaan Smith converted, and the crowd knew they were going to be in for an almighty scrap.  This was confirmed on the 20 minute mark, when the Bulls scored their second try, with a driving maul obliterating the Cheetahs’ pack and allowing Deon Steggman to claim the score – again converted by Steyn.  The game carried on swinging to and fro but the defences tightened and, following an exchange of penalties from Smit and Steyn, the halftime score was 17 – 10 to the Bulls.

The two fly halves quickly swapped another two 3-pointers after the break, before the power and experience of the visitors’ pack really took control.  Bossing the hosts in the scrum and the maul, the Bulls earned themselves another penalty (slotted by Steyn) and were showing just too much physicality for the Cheetahs on the carry – a glaringly obvious fact when lock Flip van der Merwe burst through the defence to offload to Dewald Potgieter, who in turn fed Jano Vermaak to allow the replacement scrum half to grab his 4^th try of the season, and his side’s 3^rd of the day.  It buried the game and the Cheetahs, from being right in contention, couldn’t recover from the brutal onslaught.

Or could they?  With 10 minutes remaining, Robert Ebersohn beautifully  flicked on Le Roux’s pass to allow Smit to score in the corner, before the hosts set up camp on the Bulls line to try and get within striking distance.  Despite some impressive rumbles, the Bulls just held on long enough and, by the time replacement prop Trevor Nyakane wriggled his way over, it was too little, too late.

That was about the only thing that could be classed as ‘too little’ during this explosive 25-30 win for the Bulls though – the levels of power on display from the Bulls front 8, not to mention the sheer doggedness of the Cheetahs, was off the scale in terms of physicality.  And with an 8 point cushion on top of the South African conference with 3 games to go , it’s hard to see that there’s anyone tough enough to outmuscle these Bulls.

 

What else was happening across Super Rugby last weekend?

Crusaders 23 – 22 Waratahs:  The Crusaders came from behind to snatch a dramatic win from the valiant Waratahs, who had played the better rugby throughout.  The hosts may have scored two tries through Corey Flynn and Matt Todd, but they were outscored through great tries from Cam Crawford, Peter Betham and Michael Foley.  Dan Carter knocked over a late penalty to give the Crusaders the lead before Berrick Barnes missed a last minute penalty to win it.

Brumbies 30 – 23 Hurricanes:  The Brumbies claimed a good win against a resilient but undisciplined Hurricanes side.  The home side scored tries through Nic White and Peter Kimlin, with the visitors responding through Reynold Lee-Lo  and TJ Perenara. 

Highlanders 38 – 28 Blues:  The Highlanders claimed a surprising but entertaining win over an out of sorts Blues following a dominant first half.  The hosts scored 4 tries in the first 40 minutes through Ben Smith (2), Tamati Ellison and Hosea Gear, before the visitors launched a bonus point fightback thanks to scores from Waisake Naholo, Rene Ranger, Steven Luatua and Luke Braid. 

Reds 33 – 20 Rebels:  Quade Cooper was at his mercurial best and worst as the Reds dispatched of the Rebels in Brisbane.  Luke Morahan, Jack Schatz, Quade Cooper and Ben Lucas all went over for tries for the Queenslanders, with the Melbourne outfit scoring through Scott Fuglistaller and Rory Sidney – both tries coming from charge downs to Quade Cooper’s kicks.

Stormers 19 – 11 Kings:  The Stormers ground out a hard-fought victory against a tenacious and aggressive Kings side in Cape Town.  Deon Fourie scored the only try for the hosts whilst Wimpie van der Walt provided the sole response for the visitors.