The Blue Bulls kicked off their defence of the Currie Cup in convincing fashion at Loftus on Saturday, beating the SWD Eagles 75-10.
The champions led 29-10 at the break and never looked like losing this one.
The Bulls, who secured their bonus point in the first half, scored 11 tries, with quicksilver Ettienne Botha scoring four and Johan Roets three.
The Eagles refused to lie down, but saw all their efforts mowed down from a great defensive performance by the Bulls pack. They nailed the Eagles in the tackle and stopped them at source.
The same could not be said about the men from George, though. They fell off too many first-time tackles to threaten the home side.
The Bulls took the lead through Derick Hougaard’s boot, but soon found gaps in the Eagles’ defence. Ettienne Botha tiptoed his way over for the Bulls first try after some good play on the blind side and a great run by Frikkie Welsh.
Welsh then scored his team’s second after a quick tap penalty and the stocky winger was on hand again with a great run that resulted in a try for fullback Johan Roets. Ruan Vermeulen secured the bonus point in the 32nd minute.
Earlier, the Eagles’ Isak Saayman and Tewis de Bruyn were unable to take to the field due to illness and were replaced by two Bulls squad players, as there was not enough time for replacements to be flown in from George.
The visitors scored late in the first half through hard-working Heino Senekal and played well for the first 20 minutes of the second spell. But after Botha scored his third, it was a riot as the Bulls ran in one try after the other. — Sapa