The Blue Bulls showed glimpses of a championship outfit when they recorded a morale boosting 39-24 win over the Lions in their Currie Cup encounter played at Ellis Park on Saturday.
It may not have been the prettiest game to the eye but pretty was not what Heyneke Meyer and his troops crossed the Jukskei River for.
In the end the Bulls got what they deserved, a hard-fought win.
The Bulls highlighted what danger they can pose as they clawed their way back into the game after the Lions had taken an early lead through a try by winger Louis Ludik.
But in typical Bulls fashion, the visitors stole the lead in the 33rd minute when Tim Dlulane’s outstretched arm gave the Bulls their first try of the game.
It didn’t take the Bulls long to get into their stride and six minutes later Morne Steyn waltzed through the Lions’ defence to score under the poles to put the Bulls ahead 15-11 to give his team a lead they would not relinquish.
The Bulls clinched the match long before referee Mark Lawrence blew the whistle in the 80th minute as two quick tries from Marius Delport and Pedrie Wannenburg put the contest beyond doubt.
Delport’s try was a gem as the South Africa under-21 back latched onto a pass from Morne Steyn on the halfway line and swerved past four tackles before dotting the ball down to put the Bulls 22-14 ahead.
Wannenburg’s try came six minutes later in the 50th minute as the Bulls forwards were running rampant over the Lions.
Jaco Engels’s try at the death left the Lions for dead, but they seemed to have one more breath in them as Mark Harris scored a try on the hooter to take his personal tally on the day to 19 points.
In the first half, the Lions had done a sterling job in the engine room to contain the Bulls. The hosts got the better of their visitors on the ground as they managed to get to the point of breakdown quicker than their counterparts.
However, the Lions failed to make good of their donkey work and failed to apply pressure to a Bulls team on the back foot.
Even though the Lions kept the Bulls on their toes in the opening 40 minutes, the Pretoria side somehow found ways and means of gaining some possession and putting points on the board.
The Bulls could have taken full control of proceedings earlier but a few passes not going to hand and a few knock-ons meant that they had to wait until the second half before putting daylight between themselves and the Lions.
And having gone into the half-time interval a whisker ahead of the Lions at 15-14, it would have certainly scared the three-time Currie Cup champions into thinking of last year’s mauling at the same venue.
But at the end the Bulls showed why they are thought of as the champions-in-waiting so early in the competition, recording a comfortable victory ahead of their north-south derby against old foes Western Province next Saturday at Loftus. — Sapa