Blue Bulls bulldoze Boland in final quarter

The Pretoria visitors scored seven tries to the four of Boland in a highly entertaining game in front of a boisterous Boland Stadium crowd on a sunny day in Wellington.
 

The teams were deadlocked at 12-12 at half-time, but it was the defence of the home team that let them down as they missed a number of tackles in the second half to concede easy tries.
 

The bonus-point victory meant that the Bulls moved to the top of the log on 30 points, and are now sure of a semi-final berth even though they have completed their league programme, as they cannot be passed by fourth-placed Griquas, who are currently on 19 points.
 

Nollis Marais’ Bulls outfit were quick out of the blocks and built up a 12-0 lead after just 21 minutes after fullback Ulrich Beyers rounded off from a five-metre scrum, and later wing Bjorn Basson scored an intercept try as he perfectly read Boland centre Gerrit van Wyk’s looping pass and sped away from the cover defence.
 

But the Cavaliers pack found their rhythm midway through the first half, and showed impressive ball retention with a number of pick-and-go surges around the breakdowns.
 

Boland managed to hold on to possession for over 20 phases before flyhalf Theuns Kotze dummied to open his team’s points tally in the 26th minute.
 

That gave the home team great momentum, and they followed it up with a wonderful touchdown by wing Danwel Demas after good work by his inside backs to put Boland level at 12-12 after 33 minutes.
 

But Bulls coach Marais must have read the riot act to his pack of forwards at the break as they came out firing in the second half to totally overwhelm the Cavaliers. Lizo Gqoboka and Jacobie Adriaanse dominated in the scrums, and that saw loose forwards Hanro Liebenberg and Roelof Smit make metres with their ball carries.
 

Flyhalf Tian Schoeman danced past his opposite number Kotze easily to open the try-scoring in the second half, but Boland didn’t give up just yet.
 

Bulls wing Bjorn Basson’s brother Logan, who was at No 11 for Boland, made a scything break down the left touchline, and No 8 Zandré Jordaan worked his way over to bring his team within three points of the lead.
 

And the home side finally got some luck when Kotze intercepted a poor pass from Schoeman inside the Bulls 22 to get his second five-pointer, and suddenly the Cavaliers were 26-22 ahead with 23 minutes to go.
 

But that is when the power of the Bulls came through strongly as Smit, Liebenberg (twice) and Gqoboka barrelled their way through the flimsy Boland defence to register a comprehensive victory in the end.
 

Scorers

Boland Cavaliers – Tries: Theuns Kotze (2), Danwel Demas, Zandré Jordaan. Conversions: Theuns Kotze (3).

Blue Bulls – Tries: Ulrich Beyers, Bjorn Basson, Tian Schoeman, Roelof Smit, Hanro Liebenberg (2), Lizo Gqoboka. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (5). Penalty: Tian Schoeman (1).