Rugby

Bulls punish ill-disciplined Province

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The Bulls celebrate David Kriel's try

David Kriel scored two tries to help the Vodacom Bulls claim a bonus-point victory over a Western Province team that had three players yellow-carded in Pretoria on Wednesday.

In the first of two north-south derbies this week – the second upcoming between the Stormers and Bulls in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Saturday – the Bulls bagged early bragging rights as they did enough to win 45-32.

The win moves the Bulls above the Free State Cheetahs – who had a bye with a game in hand – to the top of the Currie Cup table. Western Province, meanwhile, are starting to get cut adrift as they trail the fifth-placed Pumas by seven points, after winning just one game this season.

Despite being mauled in the scrums and struggling all evening with the penalty count, Province were in the contest up until the 60th minute, when Kriel scored his second try to give the hosts a 31-22 lead. Of course, it did not help that the visitors lost centre Cornel Smit to a yellow card in the first half, while flank Jarrod Taylor and captain Nama Xaba were sent to the sin bin in the second.

There was a moment of controversy when Kriel did score his second try as Bulls hooker Bismarck du Plessis was alleged to have thrown a punch at a Province player in the buildup, but the only footage of the incident was not clear enough for the match officials to make a clear call on it.

As it happened, the Bulls, who led 17-15 at half time, gave themselves enough of a buffer through tries from replacements Lizo Gqoboka and Joe van Zyl, despite a gutsy late effort from Province when Tristan Leyds and Angelo Davids crossed for well-worked tries.

Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images