Blue Bulls vs Pumas, Loftus Versfeld, 9 Jul 10, 19.10 CAT

[Intercept King JDV]

The Blue Bulls host the newly-promoted Pumas in the second game of the 2010 Absa Currie Cup.

Blue Bulls v Pumas

Date: Friday, July 9
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Sindile Mayende, Madel de Villiers
TMO: JC Fortuin

Blue Bulls: 15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Derick Kuün, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Fudge Mabeta, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Juandre Kruger, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Danie Faasen, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Hayden Groepes.

Pumas: 15. Carl Bezuidenhout, 14. Duwayne Enslin Smart, 13. Ashwin Scott, 12. Jovan Botha, 11. Shaun Venter, 10. Ricardo Croy, 9. Tian Carel Meyer, 8. Alwyn Bester, 7. Eduan Van Der Walt, 6. Corne Steenkamp, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Luan Velthuizen, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Hannes Franklin (Captain), 1. Dawie Steyn
Replacements: 16. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17. Ronnie Uys, 18. Willem Jacob Serfontein, 19. Christo le Roux, 20. Jacques (Pumas) Coetzee, 21. Elgar Watts, 22. Allistair Kettledas

Source

That is a very, very strong Blue Bulls side, and at "Fortress Loftus" I can only see them winning this game.Good to see Gary Botha back as captain for the Bulls.

My prediction: Bulls to win by at least 25 points.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I think you're underrating the might Pumas. Our lineup is so fearsome that showing it to the other team prior to the game would be detremental to their health. Pumas by at least 23.

 

[Seaton]

I think you're underrating the might Pumas. Our lineup is so fearsome that showing it to the other team prior to the game would be detremental to their health. Pumas by at least -23.

Fixed

Hope your original prediction was right though

 

[Intercept King JDV]

Pumas team added, only names that sticks out for me in that Pumas side is Hannes Franklin the captain and Jacques Coetzee the reserve scrumhalf, they both played for the Lions in this year's Super 14.

 

[Seaton]

Bulls ended up winning, wasn't able to watch the game, but aparently the Pumas got dominated in the first 20 minutes, but then the Bulls ran out of steam

Final score was 43-13 or something

 

[Intercept King JDV]

The Vodacom Blue Bulls started their defence of their Absa Currie Cup ***le in impressive fashion, but strolled their way through the second half to beat the Pumas 38-15 at Loftus Versfeld.

It was mission accomplished in every way for the home side, as they took their bonus point in just 19 minutes and then packed up shop.

As the first game of the match this was to be expected, but it will trouble the Bulls as they could have racked up a lot more points.

The Pumas were truly shellshocked in the opening minutes, as their defensive lines didn’t hold firm as they hoped they would, and the home side overran them with ease.

But as soon as the Bulls had their bonus point, and Stefan Dippenaar’s fifth try in the 23rd minute put the result beyond doubt, the game disintergrated into a muddle of errors which frustrated the small 6 000 crowd who turned up despite the icy weather.

To the Pumas' credit, they certainly tried their level best to make a contest of it, but both sides were negative at times, with more errors than good moments hardly making this a game to remember.

What will be remembered will be the slick movements of the first 20 minutes, when Springbok fullback Jaco van der Westhuyzen opened the scoring for the home side with a slick slight of hand to send John Mametsa away for his first try.

Stefan Watermeyer scored shortly afterwards and the writing was on the wall when prop Dean Greyling toed a ball through for Mametsa to pick up and take the score even higher.

Greyling barged over from close range shortly afterwards and Dippenaar made it five tries in less than a half hour when he found a gap on the outside to score.

The Pumas had to wait for scrumhalf Tian Meyer to bust through around a lineout to add to their opening penalty by Ricardo Croy.

At 31-10 the Bulls looked as if they would run away with it in the second half, but uncharacteristically seemed to idle rather than roar, as both sides traded weak punches and referee Stuart Berry’s whistle was the order of the day.

To be fair, the Bulls will feel aggrieved at some of the decisions at the breakdown, but it didn’t take away from their own error count, which was way too high on the night

Deon Stegmann finally broke the duck in the second half, rolling a maul over from close range and Allistair Ketteldas added some respectability for the visitors.

But while the Bulls walked away with the five points on offer, they will know they have a lot more work to do if they are to attain the triple this year and defend their Absa Currie Cup ***le in the process.

Scorers

Vodacom Blue Bulls â€" tries: John Mametsa (2), Stefan Watermeyer, Dean Greyling, Stefan Dippenaar, Deon Stegmann. Conversions: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (3), Francois Brummer (1)

Pumas â€" tries: Tian Meyer , Allistair Ketteldas. Conversion: Croy. Penalties: Ricardo Croy

Source

Yeah the Bulls weren't that good in the 2nd half, but a good start for them to this year's Currie Cup.Pumas on the other hand were terrible to watch, threw away numerous tries with knock-ons!