Share

Bulls power past Highlanders

Pretoria - The Bulls continued their march in the Super Rugby competition with a 35-18 victory over the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The local team cemented their place at the top of the South African conference and found themselves in second place overall at the end of the match.

The Bulls made a promising start as they opened the scoring with a try two minutes into the match.

VIDEO: Bulls v Highlanders, highlights

They set up a few phases and advanced into the Highlanders' 22 where scrumhalf Francois Hougaard skip-passed the ball to his left.

The ball bounced twice before landing into centre JJ Engelbrecht's hands to score in the corner, with flyhalf Morne Steyn converting.

The Highlanders, however, managed to keep the Bulls' attack at bay with flyhalf Colin Slade slotting two consecutive penalty conversions.

The game went into a lull in the middle of the first half with neither side finding a try opportunity.

Steyn kept the scoreboard ticking over, succeeding with three penalty conversions within 15 minutes to extend the Bulls' lead to 16-6.

The Highlanders were anything but passive spectators as they threatened the Bulls' line on a number of occasions.

The tourists' most promising attack came shortly before the half-time break when they probed the Bulls' defence metres from the tryline.

Bulls hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, however, set in motion the turning point of the match with a thumping tackle on a Highlanders player which saw the ball spill loose into Bulls flanker Dewald Potgieter's hand.

Potgieter offloaded to Engelbrecht, who in turn passed to flyer Akona Ndungane, who stepped inside and showed a clean pair of heels to score his side's second try.

The TMO was called into action as it appeared that Engelbrecht’s pass was forward, but the official awarded the try.

Steyn brought the half to a close with the conversion, sending his side to the change-room with a 23-6 advantage.

The break gave little relief to the visitors as the Bulls scored their third try six minutes after the restart.

Captain Pierre Spies got the rub of the green playing in his 100th Super Rugby match for the Bulls.

The hosts set up a driving maul from a lineout and were stopped shortly before the line.

Hougaard sent the ball wide from the ruck to Spies, who got over the line for the try, with Steyn converting (30-6).

The Highlanders' problems were compounded when wing Maritino Nemani was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Bjorn Basson.

Shortly after Nemani's departure, the Bulls appeared to convert this advantage into points when centre Jan Serfontein thought he had scored.

Serfontein was stopped short of the line and stretched to place the ball, however, the TMO disallowed the try.

As Nemani was about to make his return on to the field, team-mate Chris King received his marching orders for collapsing a maul, with 20 minutes left in the match.

The Bulls though struggled to take full advantage of his absence and it seemed they would miss out on a four-try bonus point.

With eight minutes left in the clash, the Highlanders scored their first try when reserve scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka broke from a ruck for the five-pointer, with Hayden Parker converting (35-13).

The Bulls found the breakthrough with Jano Vermaak breaking on the blindside from a maul to score with three minutes on the clock.

The Highlanders scored a consolation try at the death when Tamati Ellison also went over the whitewash.

Scorers:

Bulls:

Tries: JJ Engelbrecht, Akona Ndungane, Pierre Spies, Jano Vermaak

Conversions: Morne Steyn (3)

Penalties: Steyn (3)

Highlanders:

Try: Fumiaki Tanaka, Tamati Ellison

Conversion: Hayden Parker

Penalties: Colin Slade (2)

Teams:

Bulls:

15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Morne Mellett

Substitutes: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouche, 22 Bjorn Basson

Highlanders:

15. Ben Smith, 14. Tino Nemani, 13. Tamati Ellison, 12. Shaun Treeby, 11. Hosea Gear, 10. Colin Slade, 9. Aaron Smith, 8. Mose Tuiali’i, 7. John Hardie, 6. Joe Wheeler, 5. Jarrad Hoeata, 4. Brad Thorn, 3. Chris King, 2. Andrew Hore (captain), 1. Jamie Mackintosh

Substitutes: 16. Liam Coltman , 17. Tony Woodcock , 18. Elliot Dixon , 19. TJ Ioane , 20. Fumiaki Tanaka , 21. Hayden Parker , 22. Jason Emery

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2245 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE