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Blues come right in Pretoria

10th March 2012 15:24

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Gareth Anscombe bulls v blues

Blues: Sink under par Bulls

The Blues bounced back from two consecutive defeats after upsetting the Bulls 29-23 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Gareth Anscombe was the Blues' hero after scoring all his side's points that included two converted tries and five penalties in a terrific individual display.

Whilst the Blues were worthy winners, it was a lacklustre performance from the Bulls as they suffered their first defeat of the Super Rugby season.

The hosts were under pressure within the first 10 minutes of their encounter with the tourists, trailing 7-0 after only two minutes after Anscombe intercepted and sprinted 80m to open the scoring.

Six minutes later the Blues extended their lead to ten points through the boot of their young playmaker.

The hosts received a lifeline from referee Steve Walsh who sent Blues lock Ali Williams off with a yellow card for collapsing a maul. Walsh, himself, seemed to have taken centre stage handing out penalties, left, right and centre.

Even before the half-hour mark, Walsh dished out 15 penalties between the two sides, with the Blues taking the lion's share with 10 and the balance to the Bulls.

It took the Bulls two minutes to exploit their advantage of having one man over; with skipper Pierre Spies crossing to open his side's scoring.

The Bulls' reliable place kicker Morne Steyn uncharacteristically missed the conversion attempt and missed on three more occasions at crucial stages of the match.

He did, however, succeed with his third attempt at goal reducing the Blues' lead to just two points (8-10).

Anscombe extended his side's lead with a penalty six minutes before the break, which he followed up by scoring his brace after the Bulls left a gaping hole metres from their tryline. Anscombe's conversion gave his side a 20-8 lead going into the half-time sheds.

The Bulls scored the first points of the second half with Steyn slotting over a penalty in the 54th minute. However, Anscombe once again poured cold water on the Bulls' ambitions as he succeeded with two more penalty goals to take their lead to 26-11.

This meant the Bulls had to score more than two tries to clinch the match.

The Bulls showed courage at the death though as Bjorn Basson ran in two tries in the last seven minutes of the match with Steyn converting only one.

But it was too little too late for the hosts as time ran out on the stadium clock with the Bulls missing the mark by six points, however at least managed a losing bonus point for their efforts.

The scorers:

For Bulls:
Tries: Spies, Basson 2
Pens: Steyn 2
Con: Steyn

For Blues:
Try: Anscombe 2
Cons: Anscombe 2
Pens: Anscombe 5

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.

Blues: 15 Lachie Munro, 14 Sherwin Stowers, 13 Benson Stanley, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Chris Lowrey, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Luke Braid, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Keven Mealamu (captain), 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Bradley Mika, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Hadleigh Parkes, 22 David Raikuna.

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)

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Comments

DutchWing says...

Where's John Plumtree now, with his comments? NZ bottom team thrumps SA top team at their own field. So great to see all that young talent coming through. The Bulls just seemed sluggish to me, and M Steyn having a rare off day.

Posted 11:50 12th March 2012

Trader says...

@Sandal

You cannot sue a two year old.

Posted 11:50 12th March 2012

Trader says...

@Trinats - being original again, good work old son.

Posted 07:45 12th March 2012

Trader says...

@lawynd opps good pickup. Actually the fans are just as fanatic no matter what Loftus your are at.

Posted 07:42 12th March 2012

sandal says...

@ Carpelone

You say ""still feeling the pain from S.Siro debacle/fiasco of the All Black's scrum.""

Jesus, you had to strain for that one, didn't you.

@Trinats

You say: ""Lucky it was at home for you and you (paddy O) could choose who ref was !!!""

You have been told often enough, surely, that it was not O'Brien but a committee that appointed the World Cup referees. One day your malice and dishonesty will land you in a libel suit.

You also say: "most of the wave of new talent are from Fiji".

You have a funny notion of where Fiji is, but at least that statement is not libellous. Try limiting yourself to this lower-grade level of malice.

Posted 21:44 11th March 2012

BillyMutt says...

Come on Trinats, time to get over it. That stuff is really getting old now.

Posted 19:44 11th March 2012

letsgoboks says...

Bulls had a bad game. Thats all there was to it.

Posted 18:13 11th March 2012

philipjfry says...

Glass bottle, empty plastic bottle or full plastic bottle? Sample cosmetics bottle?

Posted 17:49 11th March 2012

KiwiJoe says...

They should be thinking of banning that Karate Water now.

If a skinny old guy can do that to Keven with a couple quick swigs, imagine what the big ugly bokkes will do.

I reckon there,s no way Bryce will ever ref there again after this.

Posted 13:48 11th March 2012

rolf says...

looks like the fat years are over for SA Rugby....

The Bulls join the Lions & Cheetahs as cannon fodder, the sharks struggle to their first victory - but only against local opposition and Schalk is out of business for a long while.... while the stormers have to find themselves again.

nope, it does not look good and the only comfort comes from the facts, that it was time for a cut and that is always painful plus the RWC is a long time from now.

Posted 13:27 11th March 2012

davodiablo says...

There was nothing special about either of Anscombe tries except for being in the right place at the right time . Sopoanga for me is the stand out kiwi 1st 5 this weekend . Shame about his injury .

Posted 13:09 11th March 2012

lawynd says...

@Trader - Loftus Road? I didn't know Super Rugby had come to London again! ;)

Posted 09:39 11th March 2012

golden_statenba says...

Yeah saw BVD at the end. Lucky he had that big guy protecting him

Posted 09:08 11th March 2012

sukkadoits says...

Morne Steyn was so off, it was a once in a blue moon occurrence to see him miss so many sitters. The Blues would have been almost villainous not to seal a win with that happening.

Why it took Lam 2 games to start Anscombe is beyond me. The greatest thing he adds to a Blues team is a boost in Rugby IQ. Great teams have a high rugby intelligence, a la the Bulls(of recent seasons) and the Crusaders. No disrespect to Blues supporters but the team has been lacking that rugby cleverness. Relying on athleticism will only get you so far, but having a smart consistent 10 at the helm helps drive the machine over the line. Not since Nick Evans 2008 season have we seen a smart operator steering the big blue machine.

Posted 07:01 11th March 2012

Trader says...

Look for Bok Van Damme (just kidding) "bottle" Mealamu at the end of the game. Thankfully not representative of the Bokke fans I know but there is just something not right with some of those Bulls supporters. Loftus Road is a great place to watch Rugby but it has been the only place that I had wished I had not worn my AB jersey. Luckily I had 3 Bokke mates with me all the same size probably as BVD and that was enough to scare off the rednecks.

Posted 04:38 11th March 2012

tmcadams says...

What really tarnishes the Blues win is the moran in the crowd who threw and hit Kevin Mealamu with a bottle while he was sat on the bench. That guy should be banned from rugby for life. It is a cowardly act!

South Africa is a great rugby nation and the last thing they need are teams refusing to play there because of violence from their supporters.

Posted 04:17 11th March 2012

Trader says...

Aussie ref's - hopeless aren't they?

Posted 03:55 11th March 2012

genghis_j says...

no mention here - well behaved SA fan - Kevin Mealamu was hit by a bottle while he was on the bench, followed by the thrower jumping the fence to get at him. So much for security.

What a show from Anscombe, he along with TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett of Hurricanes) all from NZ U-20, all in the points this weekend.

Posted 23:45 10th March 2012

IslandPower says...

If i was a bulls fan I would be a little worried 10 penalties to 5, and a yellow card to the blues at home and still can't finish the deal? Normally in these situations the bulls of old would monster their opposition.

Posted 23:32 10th March 2012

IslandPower says...

Whooohoooo I was right, I think I even got the winning margin down pat.

Posted 23:29 10th March 2012

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