Gavin Rich

Johannesburg - They already have the Super 14 trophy safely packed away somewhere at Loftus, and don’t bet too much against the Vodacom Blue Bulls adding the Currie Cup to their silverware before the season is out.

What Vodacom Western Province’s failure to convert their forward and territorial advantage into points at the weekend did was enable the Bulls to score what must for them have been a massive psychological point.

Yes, the Bulls were at home, and they seldom get beaten there, particularly not by Province. But if ever WP were going to score another win at Loftus in this competition to go with the one they managed in 2006, then it was in this match. The Bulls will be depleted for most of the domestic season because of international call-ups, but in this game they were even more depleted than usual.

What they did though was once again showcase their depth, with Jacques Burger superbly stepping into the void left by the absent Johan Stegmann to earn himself the man of the match award, with all of the Bulls shining in an outstanding and committed defensive effort.

It was the Bulls’ defence that frustrated WP, who got the better of the set-scrums and who had enough of a platform off the lineouts, but were just unable to use it. There was a period of about 20 minutes in the second half where WP were all over the Bulls, and were camped in their half, but were just unable to score.

They will lament their decisions to forego kickable penalties. After one, a tap penalty ended up with possession being turned over out wide. The kick would have been from in front of the posts, and would have cut an eight point deficit to five with 15 minutes to go. Later a penalty was kicked for the corner, only for the planned driving maul to be thwarted by the throw going outside of Anton van Zyl.

While WP lacked composure and patience, and leaked two first-half tries that cost them the match, the Bulls were their disciplined, clinical selves, and deserved their win.

The question now revolves around who is going to stop them, particularly at Loftus, as their confidence will be sky-high following a win over a team that looks formidable for this under-strength stage of the competition and which had taken a lot of momentum into the game.

The Sharks get an opportunity to halt them this week, but in Durban, where Stefan Terblanche’s team responded well on Friday night to the coaching staff’s pledge that they would back the players who failed in Cape Town a week earlier. A 46-10 win over Boland Cavaliers was just the tonic that someone like young flyhalf Guy Cronje would have needed ahead of the more difficult games to come.

One team making early waves is the Xerox Lions, who ensured against the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs that Jake White’s Winning Way does not look like an inappropriate name for the programme that is driving the attempted resurgence of a union that has been struggling for many years.

When they were trailing by a big margin during the first half it did not look good for the Lions, so full marks to them for their determination and composure in recovering to the extent that they outscored the Cheetahs 18-3 in the second half.

It was the second consecutive defeat for the Cheetahs who are the team under early pressure in the competition, with their Central Union neighbours, Griquas, being the side that is keeping the flag flying in that part of the world by topping the log after two rounds. Griquas, after their upset win over the Cheetahs the previous week, followed up with an easy 36-11 win over Absa Currie Cup Premier Division newcomers Platinum Leopards.

Weekend results

Sharks 46 Boland Cavaliers 10
Griquas 36 Leopards 10
Lions 31 Free State 22
Blue Bulls 30 Western Province 22