The Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup side beat what is effectively the Lions reserve Super 14 squad 32-24 at Wits on Thursday night in a lively match full of running.
The Blue Bulls, who led 25-7 at the break,were generally quicker to the loose ball and won a surfeit of good possession which they used to good effect in the first half.
The Lions, heavier and more experienced than a side including a number of last year’s Under-21s in their make-up, came back well in the second half to close the gap to 27-24, thanks largely to Chris Jonck and Ears Rose, who came on as a replacement and brought some urgency to the Lions backline.
In the end the Blue Bulls probably deserved to win because of their greater enterprise and crisp handling in the first half.
The experience of Tiger Mangweni saw him involved throughout, and Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf is someone to watch, despite not making the SA Under-20s’ final group of 38
The new laws didn’t seem to trouble the players unduly, although the luxury of hands-in at the rucks did see players from both side cling to the ball when on the ground on a number of occassions. In a lively curtain-raiser the Pumas came back well to draw 34-all with the Leopards, who had looked by far the better side early on
Scorers:
Bulls
Tries: Tiger Mangweni, Stephan Dippenaar, Rocco Jansen, Francois Hougaard.
Conversions: Burton Francis (2) Ruaan Boshoff.
Drop goal: Francis.
Penalty: Francis
Lions:
Tries: Ettienne Reynecke, Chris Jonck (2), Doppies le GrangE.
Conversions: Jonck (2).
Sapa -Super14.com
