Kempton Park - The Blue Bulls stormed to the top of the Vodacom Cup North section log with a 50-7 win over the Falcons at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park on Saturday.
The Blue Bulls led 38-0 at half-time.
It was the unbeaten Bulls’ fifth successive victory and it lifts them to 22 points, two ahead of the Golden Lions and five better than the third-placed Leopards with two rounds left in the round-robin.
The Falcons, in contrast, suffered their fifth straight defeat, which leaves them rooted to the bottom of the table with a solitary point to show for what has been a miserable campaign.
The Bulls were ruthless against their southern neighbours, scoring six tries in the opening 40 for an insurmountable halftime lead, before taking their foot off the accelerator after the break.
The only points the Falcons could muster came in the 55th minute when replacement flanker Raymond Havenga crashed over for another replacement, Deon Anderson, to convert.
It brought the only cheer from those hardy souls in the 400-strong crowd who came to support their under-siege home side, who tried gallantly but were simply outmuscled up front and outpaced out wide by the men from Pretoria.
Bulls fullback Tiger Mangweni opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a try converted by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff -- the first of five he slotted on the day to go with a try for a total of 15 points.
The visitors went 19-0 ahead after as many minutes when left wing Vainon Willis dived over for the first of his two tries.
Further tries to inside centre Stefan Watermeyer, scrumhalf Ruan Snyman and eighthman and captain Gerrit-Jan van Velze completed the first-half scoring but the expected avalanche of points never quite materialised after the break.
This was partly a result of the Bulls easing the intensity and the Falcons defending with a vigour that was absent earlier on.
Deon Helberg and Willis however took advantage of the surfeit of possession that came their way to cross for tries that took the Bulls past the 50-point mark in a match they were expected to win by exactly that margin.
The Blue Bulls led 38-0 at half-time.
It was the unbeaten Bulls’ fifth successive victory and it lifts them to 22 points, two ahead of the Golden Lions and five better than the third-placed Leopards with two rounds left in the round-robin.
The Falcons, in contrast, suffered their fifth straight defeat, which leaves them rooted to the bottom of the table with a solitary point to show for what has been a miserable campaign.
The Bulls were ruthless against their southern neighbours, scoring six tries in the opening 40 for an insurmountable halftime lead, before taking their foot off the accelerator after the break.
The only points the Falcons could muster came in the 55th minute when replacement flanker Raymond Havenga crashed over for another replacement, Deon Anderson, to convert.
It brought the only cheer from those hardy souls in the 400-strong crowd who came to support their under-siege home side, who tried gallantly but were simply outmuscled up front and outpaced out wide by the men from Pretoria.
Bulls fullback Tiger Mangweni opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a try converted by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff -- the first of five he slotted on the day to go with a try for a total of 15 points.
The visitors went 19-0 ahead after as many minutes when left wing Vainon Willis dived over for the first of his two tries.
Further tries to inside centre Stefan Watermeyer, scrumhalf Ruan Snyman and eighthman and captain Gerrit-Jan van Velze completed the first-half scoring but the expected avalanche of points never quite materialised after the break.
This was partly a result of the Bulls easing the intensity and the Falcons defending with a vigour that was absent earlier on.
Deon Helberg and Willis however took advantage of the surfeit of possession that came their way to cross for tries that took the Bulls past the 50-point mark in a match they were expected to win by exactly that margin.
Scorers:
Falcons:
Try: Raymond Havenga
Conversion: Deon Anderson
Blue Bulls:
Tries: Tiger Mangweni, Marnitz Boshoff, Vainon Willis (2), Stefan Watermeyer, Ruan Snyman, Gerrit-Jan van Velze, Deon Helberg Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (5)