The defending champion Bulls continued where they left off last year, beating a game Cheetahs team 51-34 in an entertaining and at times dazzling First Round encounter in Bloemfontein on Friday.
The six tries to three victory was a mix of amazing backline brilliance and brute forward strength - including a penalty try to the Bulls as they demolished the Cheetahs scrum.
But don't discard the Cheetahs. They may have been outplayed by a Bulls team that was equally as impressive on Friday as they were in putting 60 points past the Chiefs in the Final last year, but the men from Bloemfontein showed they had made great strides since their last-place finish in 2009.
More to follow...
The scorers:
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Mapoe, Smith, Nokwe
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier 5
For the Bulls:
Tries: Pretorius, Steyn, Van den Heever, Kirchner, Olivier, Penalty try
Cons: Steyn 6
Pens: Steyn 3
Teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Frans Viljoen, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Danwel Demas.
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referee: Marius Jonker, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
RSS Feed
Get a new pair of rugby shorts for the spring season. The World Rugby Shop has the best selection of rugby shorts. CLICK HERE to visit the WRS.