/ 26 April 2008

Bulls charge down Lions, head for semis

The Blue Bulls guaranteed themselves a place in the semifinals of the Vodacom Cup with their 51-7 victory over the Lions at Loftus on Friday.

The Bulls scored a total of seven tries, five of which came in the first half, and led 36-7 at the interval.

The hosts were first to draw blood with a Braam Gerber try in the first minute, followed by a Burton Francis penalty in the eighth minute.

Bulls wing Rocco Jansen then scored in the left hand corner and wing John Mametsa crawled over the line in the 17th minute.

By the half hour mark the Bulls were leading 29-0 after centre Ruan Boshoff scored from a Francis grubber. Bret Sharman was then yellow-carded for a professional foul.

With a one man advantage, the Lions’ Gert Muller scored from a maul.

The Bulls then put the match beyond doubt with try from Okkie Kruger.

The Bulls continued to play with the same intensity in the second half but found it hard to break the defence of the Lions. World Cup Springbok Jacque Fourie created a number of opportunities for attack, but the Lions seemed to give up in the face of impossible odds.

The Bulls scored two more tries through Jansen — who sprinted from the halfway line — and Mametsa.

Francis was on target with a penalty in the 56th minute. – Sapa