Vodacom Bulls v Tafel Lager Griquas

Recap

Bulls		Griquas
30		23

Griquas came out to play and led the match for the better part of 65 minutes before the Bulls secured a win with a try by their captain Arno Botha.

Griquas was full value throughout the match putting massive pressure on the Bulls with brilliant defence. They took their opportunities and had the Bulls scrambling at times.

Morne Steyn played a massive part in the Bulls coming back with his boot and game management. The Bulls scrum also came good in the second half which gave them the edge at the end.

The Bulls put the pressure on Griquas from the start but the visitors was up to what their forwards threw at them.

They actually worked their way back to the Bulls half of the field and forced a penalty which gave them the early lead with the boot of Whitehead.

The Bulls had plenty of chances but a massive Griquas defence stopped them everytime in their tracks. Steyn also missed an opportunity for points.

Griquas put the Bulls under enormous pressure with their defence and with quick ball and hands they got James Verity-Amm over for the first try of the match and the lead of 10-0.

The Bulls finally got on the board with the boot of Morne Steyn in the 37th minute of the first half.

The Bulls had the final say in the half when Jenkins got through the Griquas defence to offload to Ruan Nortje to dive over after the halftime hooter.

Steyn conversion made the score 10-all as the players went into the halftime break.

Griquas had the better start to the second half putting solid pressure on the Bulls. A great maul from Griquas saw Tim Agaba getting a yellow card for collapsing the maul.

Griquas was gifted a try after a cross-kick from Steyn got back into the hands of Volmink who run all the way to score Griquas second try.

This gave Griquas a 15-10 lead.

Whitehead extended the lead again a few minutes later with a penalty almost halfway out.

The Bulls got back into the Griquas half and it was Van Staden that went over but the on-field decision was held up and the TMO could not overturned the decision.

After three pressure scrums from the Bulls the referee had no choice to award a penalty try which made it a 1 point game after 56 minutes.

The Bulls with so much quality possession could not keep their composer and made basics mistakes which cost them.

It was Morne Steyn boot that put the Bulls in the lead for the first time in the match from a penalty.

The Bulls have been impressive with their scrums in the second half and it was another massive scrum that send Arno Botha over to give the Bulls some breathing space on the scoreboard.

Griquas hit back immediately with a second try by James Verity-Amm after a mistake from Travis Ismaiel. This brought Griquas right back into the game with the Bulls lead only 27-23.

Steyn extend the Bulls lead again to a 7 point with a penalty with 8 minutes to go.

The Bulls had to defend a bit at the end to keep Griquas out and were able to hang on to the lead to take the win.

Scorers:

Bulls: Tries – Ruan Nortje, Arno Botha, Penalty Try Conversions – Morne Steyn(2) Penalties – Morne Steyn(2)

Griquas: Tries – James Verity-Amm(2), Anthony Volmink Conversions – George Whitehead(2) Penalties – George Whitehead(2)