Lions outscored by Bulls

The Lions were outscored by the Vodacom Bulls though they scored the most tries in a hard-fought Super Rugby match over the weekend.

Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers returned to winning ways on a weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby, where six from seven home teams were victorious.

Ironically, both the teams from Pretoria and Cape Town were outscored by two tries to one in their respective matches against the Lions and the Hurricanes, but won mainly because of pin-point goal-kicking accuracy.

Vodacom Bulls beat the Lions by 25-17 in the first Gauteng-derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday March 1.

On Friday evening the DHL Stormers snuck through by 19-18 against the Hurricanes at DHL Newlands.

It wasn’t a happy weekend for the Toyota Cheetahs though, as they lost their first tour match of the season by 35-14 to the Rebels in Melbourne.

The Cell C Sharks had a bye.

Vodacom Bulls 25 (19) Lions 17 (10)

The Lions played their near neighbours on their home grounds and didn’t expect an easy match. “We are prepared for an onslaught by the Bulls in front of their home crowd, “ said Head Coach of the Lions Johan Ackermann at the press conference beforehand.

Vodacom Bulls recorded their tenth straight Vodacom Super Rugby victory over the Lions at a wet and windy Loftus Versfeld, when they won the first Gauteng-derby.

The Lions outscored the Vodacom Bulls by two tries to one, but in the end they simply conceded too many kickable penalties. It was the second time that the team from Johannesburg scored more tries than the Pretorians, but still ended up losing – this also happened in 2008, when the Lions got three tries to two, but lost 31-17.

In a match where both teams defended well, the Vodacom Bulls looked a bit more enterprising with ball in hand, built on a proper platform laid by their pack of forwards. They stole a number of the Lions’ throws at line-out time and also got a couple of penalties from scrums, which Jacques-Louis Potgieter duly converted into points.

Potgieter contributed 20 of the Vodacom Bulls’ points in his first game back for the side from Pretoria since the Vodacom Super Rugby final in 2010.

Jan Serfontein scored their only try, which came from good counter-attacking play from a turn-over. Had the home team been better in finishing off, the score could’ve been even bigger.

The Lions tried hard to throw the ball around but the adverse conditions didn’t help. Both the Johannesburgers’ tries by Stefan Watermeyer and Willie Wepener came after they put the Vodacom Bulls’ kickers under pressure and charged down kicks close to the try-line.

Scorers:

Vodacom Bulls – Try: Jan Serfontein. Conversion: Jacques-Louis Potgieter. Penalty goals: Potgieter (5). Drop goal: Potgieter.

Lions – Try: Stefan Watermeyer, Willie Wepener. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (2). Penalty goal: Boshoff.