A try in the dying seconds by Blue Bulls replacement loose forward Frans van Schouwenburg sealed a thrilling 33-32 win for the Absa Currie Cup champions over the Pumas at Loftus on Friday night.
The Bulls led 9-8 at half-time.
That late score kept the Bulls’ unbeaten record this season intact — but only just. The Pumas, fresh from a giant-killing act against the Sharks last weekend, outscored the home team by four tries to three and were deserving of their lead late in the match.
The visitors had looked set for another shock win before Van Schouwenburg set up another replacement — flyhalf Morne Steyn — for the conversion and the narrow victory on the stroke of full-time.
The Pumas had an abundance of the ball in the opening 15 minutes, but thanks to a succession of scything tackles it was mostly on the back foot.
The Bulls’ superior organisation in all facets of play meant that the Pumas were drawn into making mistakes and soon found themselves 6- 0 down via two sweetly struck penalties from the Bulls’ stand-in flyhalf Louis Strydom.
The Bulls looked much better with ball in hand but their attacks from their much-vaunted first phase left much to be desired and this gave the visitors a chance.
They began to make better use of their territorial advantage as the half wore on and pulled back to 6-3 when captain Marius Goosen slotted a kick after the Bulls’ Geo Cronje was penalised for holding on.
And they deservedly went ahead when right wing Giscard Pieters chipped ahead and capitalised on an error by his opposite number Riaan van der Bergh to dot down in the 18th minute for what was the only try of an evenly contested half.
Strydom slotted his third kick of the evening to regain the lead at 9-8 after 25 minutes. The remainder of the half was all Bulls but the Pumas defended like Trojans to go into the break behind by that solitary point.
Morne Steyn came on for the injured Strydom shortly after the restart and he immediately increased the lead with a penalty. Goosen cancelled out that effort moments later, before the Bulls’ persistence with pick-up and drive rugby was rewarded when hooker Gary Botha scored from a pushover to put his team 19-11 ahead after 53 minutes.
And that was the spark that ignited the match.
The Pumas replied instantly with two stunning tries — the first from Pieters and the second by fullback Jacques Schutte — before former Sharks flank Warren Brosnihan pulled one back for the home team. Steyn’s conversion gave the Bulls a 26-25 lead with 15 minutes left.
Goosen then capped a superb individual performance with his team’s fourth try with just seven minutes on the clock to reclaim the lead. But that ultimately proved too little in their bid for victory as Van Schouwenburg shattered their dreams with his last-minute score. — Sapa