Warrick Gelant inspired the Blue Bulls to a 52-32 bonus-point win over the Pumas at Loftus on Friday to keep their Currie Cup semi-final hopes alive. MARIETTE ADAMS reports.
Needing maximum log points to stay in the playoff hunt, the Bulls overcame a challenging opening quarter before stamping their authority on the match.
The result provisionally takes John Mitchell’s men to third position on the log, one point ahead of the Cheetahs and two ahead of the Lions, who meet at Ellis Park on Saturday.
At a near-empty Loftus, the Bulls dominated possession and territory, but surprisingly it was the Pumas who led 10-7 after 20 minutes.
However, as soon as Gelant got more involved on attack, the Bulls managed to convert opportunities into points. The fullback made 132 running metres from 12 ball carries, three linebreaks, five offloads and 18 good passes. He also scored a try and made two assists.
Benefiting from Pierre Schoeman’s rampaging run and brilliant awareness to offload to his support runner, scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl scored the Bulls’ second try to give them a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Under pressure, the Pumas absentmindedly kicked on to Gelant at the back and he launched a scathing attack. Despite getting tackled at the fourth attempt, Gelant kept the ball alive and moments later Travis Ismaiel scored. The Bulls then secured the bonus point when Gelant gathered his own grubber kick to score unopposed.
The hosts continued to dominate in the second half as flank Marco van Staden and captain Burger Odendaal went over to extend the lead and boost their team’s overall points difference.
The Pumas did finish with a flourish, though, as they sliced through the Bulls defence on three occasions to score in the last quarter of the match.
But tries by Ismaiel and centre JT Jackson in between the Pumas’ late efforts, secured a convincing win for the Bulls.
Blue Bulls – Tries: Edgar Marutlulle, Ivan van Zyl, Travis Ismaiel (2), Warrick Gelant, Marco van Staden, Burger Odendaal, JT Jackson. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (6).
Pumas – Tries: Jannie Stander, Willie Engelbrecht, Selom Gavor, Frankie Herne. Conversions: Kobus Marais (3). Penalties: Marais (2).
Blue Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Burger Odendaal (c), 12 JT Jackson, 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Matthys Basson, 18 Jano Venter, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Travis Ismaiel.
Pumas – 15 Gerrit Smit, 14 Selom Gavor, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Hennie Skorbinski, 11 Ruwellyn Isbel, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Nardus van der Walt, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jannie Stander, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Khwezi Mona.
Subs: 16 Frankie Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Hilton Lobberts, 20 Francois Kleinhans, 21 Reynier van Rooyen, 22 Gerrie Labuschagne.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
