Vodacom Blue Bulls - Blue Bulls in good show at Coca-Cola Craven Week
The Enrista Blue Bulls Craven Week side won two of their three matches at the annual Coca-Cola Craven Week, held at the HTS Middelburg fields in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
The Pretoria side lost their opening match 26-25 to Eastern Province, with a last minute score by the coastal side, who went on to be crowned best team at the Week.The Blue Bulls then went one to beat the Golden Lions 21-10 and on the final day of play, outgunned KZN 36-15.
A wrap of the matches follows:
Blue Bulls 25 (16) Eastern Province 26 (6)Eastern Province secured a gripping last-minute victory against the Blue Bulls in what was a titanic clash after staging a dramatic comeback from 16-6 down in the first half. Both teams threw everything at each other with their powerful packs and hard-running backs. Such was the closeness of the first half the Blue Bulls managed to cross the tryline in the 30th minute for the first try of the match, while the rest of the points were all scored compliments of penalties. The Blue Bulls slotted over three and Eastern Province two, which handed the Pretoria team a 16-6 lead.Eastern Province, however, fought back in the second half as they ran in two well-worked tries, the last of which was in the final minute, to cancel out the extra three penalties by Blue Bulls flyhalf Tinus de Beer. This left the Port Elizabeth side trailing by one point before the conversion. Eastern Province fullback Curwin Bosch, however, slotted over the kick with ease to secure the 26-25 victory.Scorers:Blue Bulls – Try: Ettiene Matthys. Conversion: Tinus de Beer. Penalties: Tinus de Beer (6).Eastern Province – Tries: Athi Mayinje, Curwin Bosch. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2). Penalties: Curwin Bosch (4).
Match TwoBlue Bulls 21 (21) Golden Lions 10 (3)The clash between the Blue Bulls and Golden Lions was tense as both teams tried hard to dominate physically with their powerful forwards. Both teams created chances on attack as they stretched the defence across the field, but the Blue Bulls’ smart game plan to kick for territory and try to force the Lions into making mistakes combined with their skilful passing handed them an edge. This paid off for the Pretoria side as they managed to cross the Lions’ tryline three times in the first half for a 21-3 half time lead.The Golden Lions, however, forced their way back into the match with their strong forwards after the break by retaining possession on attack and camping in the Blue Bulls’ half. This set them up for a try from a rolling maul shortly after half time. They created several more opportunities on attack through their impressive forward play and fantastic line breaks and managed to come within inches of scoring. But the solid Blue Bulls’ defence denied them from dotting down the ball, which meant they had to settle for a 21-10 defeat. Scorers:Blue Bulls – Tries: Juandre Michau, Ruan de Beer, Stedman Gans. Conversions: Ruan de Beer, Tinus de Beer (2).Golden Lions – Try: Constant Beckerling. Conversion: Ralton October. Penalty: Wikus Van Biljon.
KwaZulu-Natal 15 (10) Blue Bulls 36 (15)KwaZulu-Natal and the Blue Bulls were closely matched in the first half of their clash as they both put their bodies on the line to get on the front foot. For the first 20 minutes both teams opted for penalties in an attempt to force their way onto the scoreboard. But the Blue Bulls finally broke through in the 25th minute for the first of their two first-half tries, while the Sharks also earned one, handing the Pretoria side a 15-10 lead. KwaZulu-Natal, however, fought hard early in the second half to take the lead on the scoreboard and managed to secure their second try five minutes into the half. They came close to the tryline again on several occasions, but the resilient Blue Bulls defence denied them from touching down the ball. In stark contrast the Blue Bulls made a few fantastic line breaks and supported this with a strong showing by their forwards, which paid off with three back-to-back tries and a convincing 36-15 victory. Scorers:KwaZulu-Natal – Tries: Jaco Coetzee, James Hall. Conversion: Curtis Jonas. Penalty: Tristan Tedder.Blue Bulls – Tries: Aston Fortuin, Eduan Keyter, Embrose Papier, Tinus de Beer (2). Conversions: Tinus de Beer (4). Penalty: Tinus de Beer.
(5) Blue Bulls in good show at Coca-Cola Craven Week
Daar was igpunte en ek was bly om te sien Ruan Goosen het genoeg speel kan gekry. Hy was beslis die beter vaskop in die groep as die ander wat bo hom gekes was.
Sien jul volgende jaar as 0/19 spelers.
Jul 22, 2014 at 02:32 PM
Ek dink die CC gaan nog 'n harde les wees. Die ryk unies (waarvan die bulle nie 1 is nie) spandeer fortuine om spelers te behou en nuwe spelers te koop. Die Bulle en kings probeer hul bes om jong spelers te ontwikkel en dan verloor hul die spelers as hul senior status bereik. Dink John Smit en Gert Smal het begrotings waarvan die bulle net kan droom.
Jul 23, 2014 at 08:19 AM
Honibal, die SA Skole keurders dink nie so nie. Sarel-Marco Smith gekies vir proewe nou Saterdag!!!
Jul 23, 2014 at 02:46 PM
Frannabul, dis nou nie te sê as 'n seun gekies is vir die groep, jy noodwendig goed is nie.
PJ Toerien het 'n swak 1ste wedstryd as agsteman gehad, maar die ander 2 wedstryde het hy kookwater spel gelewer op sy gunsteling posisie, maar nogsteeds is hy oor die hoof gesien.
So ook is spelers wat op die akademiese week in aksie was, genooi vir die proewe.
Dus volstaan ek by my opmerking dat ek reken Ruan Goosen was die beter stut gewees. Dis niks teen Sarel of wie ookal nie, bloot my opinie.
Bygese, die hele bul voorry is gekies en ek weet nie of die twee stutte werklik daar hoort nie.
Anyway, geluk aan elke seun. Ek hou duimvas hulle doen goed.
Jul 24, 2014 at 07:48 AM
Honibal , gaan maar oor size. Goeie grootte is altyd beter as 'n goeie kleintjie. Bul haker kan hom self ook gelukkig ag dat hy op Craven week spel die paal gehaal het. Ek vermoed dis nie net Craven week spel wat die seuns in die proewe laat beland het nie!
As mens als lees wat Brenden Nel skryf klink dit of als inmekaar gaan val by Bulls . Niks beplanning nie net lee beloftes aan spelers .
Ek sien Ludeke se it will come down to execution . Ai ai . En Pierre se it will take a special performance . Elke week moet special wees dink ek
Please send me was weekend result for Carlton league for 2015.
Ons moet hoop Visser is op sy aller k@kste Saterdag. Al hoe ons van FL ontslae gaan raak is om onder die Cheetas te eindig.
Stormeristops, dis tyd dat jy huis toe gaan, jou sussie is terug van kleuterskool.
Dai stormer jong is vervelig.hou by die blou my volk
Ek sien die wp ding was weer gesuip, die dat dit weer hier kom gesels het! Maak klaar daai doos wyn en gaan slaap donkie! stormers_is_kots
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