URC result: Bulls down Lions in entertaining Jukskei derby

The Bulls produced a huge second half performance to power their way to a bonus point 35-22 win over the Lions in their United Rugby Championship (URC) cross-Jukskei derby at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions put in a decent first half effort to just to take a one-point lead into the break, before they faded badly in the final quarter of the game which allowed the Bulls to pull away for a comfortable win in the end.

The result is a blow to the Lions hopes of making their way back up the URC table and leaves them firmly in the bottom half, while the Bulls have secured their place in the top four for another few weeks.

The match started with the Bulls on the front foot with some good play in the Lions half, but solid defence from the hosts led to the visitors eventually taking a shot at goal in the ninth minute, with flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain slotting it for a 3-0 lead.

Five minutes later the Bulls were in for the opening try, turning over the ball near halfway, Chamberlain kicked into space in the Lions 22m, wing Sergeal Petersen fielded it and offloaded to outside centre David Kriel to go over for the converted score.

The Lions started their fightback in the 19^th minute with flyhalf Sam Francis slotting a penalty, followed by his second in the 28^th to make it 10-6.

Five minutes later the hosts dotted down their first score, attacking from a scrum just in the Bulls half, as inside centre Rynhardt Janker kicked ahead and outside centre Henco van Wyk chased it down and scored, with Francis missing the extras to leave it 11-10.

Missed chances

In the final two minutes of the half the Lions almost scored, when eighthman Francke Horn was superbly stopped on the line, followed by Francis missing a penalty on the halftime hooter, leaving the hosts with a slender lead at the break.

The second half started with a kicking battle, as Francis slotted two penalties, with one from Chamberlain in between, leaving the Lions 17-13 up after 52 minutes.

However from the kick-off the Bulls reclaimed the ball, powered into the Lions 22m and lock Cobus Wiese crashed over to put the visitors back in front.

Kriel took over the kicking duties, slotting the conversion and added a penalty in the 58^th minute to push the Bulls into a 23-17 lead.

The Lions hit back three minutes later, as they kicked a penalty onto the Bulls 5m, secured the lineout and set a massive maul which was stopped short, before lock Etienne Oosthuizen crashed over, with Francis again not on target leaving them a point behind.

But that was as close as the hosts got as the visitors pulled away, attacking from two lineouts in the Lions 22m, with flank Marcell Coetzee crashing over first, before replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe powered over on the back of a rolling maul, both converted by Kriel to put them 35-22 ahead after 69 minutes.

The final 10 minutes was then a frustrating affair as the Lions made mistake after mistake chasing the game to eventually go down with a whimper.

Scorers

Lions: Tries – Henco van Wyk, Etienne Oosthuizen; Penalties – Sam Francis (4)

Bulls: Tries – David Kriel, Cobus Wiese, Marcell Coetzee, Akker van der Merwe; Conversions – Boeta Chamberlain, Kriel (2); Penalties – Chamberlain (2), Kriel