Bulls beat the Cheetahs in Pretoria

The Cheetahs Super Rugby revival will be severely tested this weekend when they travel away from Bloemfontein to Pretoria as they have never beaten the Bulls in Super Rugby.

Match detail

We are waiting for the kick off.

The Cheetahs kick off and we are underway.

1.00: Sarel Pretorius concedes the first penalty so Morne Steyn kicks for touch.

3.00: The Bulls get the ball and spread it wide and Bjorn Basson races down the wing and scores in the corner.

4.00: Morne Steyn takes the conversion but misses !! That's rare.

6.00: The Bulls have brought their monster game. This one is going to be a physical one.

7.00: The Cheetahs are trying to get their game going. They go through the phases and then kick for the corner. Kabamba Floors is the first injury and is carried off with a knee injury.

10.00: Penalty to the Cheetahs. Sias Ebersohn will kick for posts from inside his half. Distance is good but direction was off.

14.00: Lots of high ball testing the backs and eventually the ball goes out as Pretorius kicks it out.

15.00: The Bulls win the line out and attack from the Cheetahs 25m line. Hougaard makes some ground and they recycle.

16.00: The Cheetahs hold the Bulls out but they are caught offside so the Bulls will kick for posts.

17.00: Steyn takes the kick and slots it.

19.00: Penalty to the Cheetahs. Ebersohn misses again.

20.00: Werner Kruger has a busting run which gains the Bulls a lot of ground. As they go forward the Cheetahs concede a penalty so Steyn kicks for touch.

22.00: The Cheetahs get over the gain line and look dangerous, the support comes but its too slow. The Bulls push them across the field and then out.

25.00: The Cheetahs get the Bulls going backwards but they concede a free kick. It's getting tough for the Cheetahs.

27.00: The Cheetahs get another break but Ndungane "just" gets back and stops Sarel Pretorius.

29.00: Bulls have missed 3 tackles and the Cheetahs 4 so far.

31.00: The Bulls get a rolling maul going and they drive over the line but the referee says no they knocked on.

33.00: Pretorius puts in a hand in the scrum where he shouldn't have so the Bulls get a penalty. Steyn bangs it over.

36.00: Ndungane takes a knock and gets some attention which hold the game up. Gerhard van den Heever replaces him and Bakkies Botha also comes on.

40.00: The siren goes and Steyn seems to go for a drop goal but misses. It is half time though.

The half time score was Bulls 11 Cheetahs 0

The second half is underway.

43.00: The Cheetahs get the stronger start to the second half and come close to scoring a try but handling lets them down.

44.00: Spies fires off the back of the scrum and the Bulls backs follow up. They swing the ball to the other side and Basson is pushed into touch.

47.00: The Cheetahs are still battling away at the Bulls but not making much ground.

51.00: All the work that the Cheetahs have done finally has a pay off and Ashley Johnson bashes Morne Steyn out of his way and scores the Cheetahs first points and TRY!!

52.00: Ebersohn adds the conversion. Cheetahs trail by 4.

55.00: The Bulls get the ball to Danie Rossow who is playing for the moment at centre and he races through the Cheetahs and scores a TRY!! Surprising pace.

56.00:Morne Steyn adds the conversion and the Bulls have better lead again.

59.00: Steyn kicks for touch and finds it in the corner. The Bulls win the line out but knock on so the Cheetahs have a scrum. The Cheetahs then win a penalty from the scrum. They kick for touch.

62.00: The Bulls move the ball on attack through the phases and they stretch the Cheetahs and Danie Rossouw goes over for his second TRY. Relatively easy one after the build up.

More Steyn takes the conversion and nails it.

The Cheetahs take Zane Kirchner high when he is in the air so Coenie Oosthuizen is shown a yellow card.

64.00: Out of the blue Ashley Johnson gets the ball and shows a real but of pace beating Basson !! and scores his second TRY!!

65.00: Ebersohn adds the conversion.

66.00: The Cheetahs are on fire!! They swing the ball through the backs and they show some great team work and Hennie Daniller scores. No wait his elbow was in touch. No try. All of this while they are down to 14.

69.00: The Cheetahs try to attack but as they spread the ball wide in the Bulls 25 they knock on.

73.00: The Cheetahs enjoy a break and they stretch the Bulls in defence. The Bulls are caught offside so the Cheetahs take the tap and go.

74.00: Another penalty to the Cheetahs. Again they run the ball.

76.00: Another penalty for the Cheetahs. They run it again. Coenie Oosthuizen comes back on - the Cheetahs scored 7 points and the Bulls 0 while he was off.

77.00: Deon Stegmann is shown a yellow card so the Bulls are down to 14.

78.00: The Cheetahs attack and Sias Ebersohn goes over to score a TRY!!

79.00: Ebersohn adds the conversion.

79.00: The siren sounds and the Cheetahs have the ball. They are running it - they knock on. Spies gets the ball and runs, he is tackled and the Bulls continue to attack - they need the bonus point.

81.00: The Bulls get to the line but they can't get over. They win a penalty. They run it.

The Cheetahs can still win it and the Bulls need a bonus point.

The Bulls drive for the line. The Cheetahs defend and Oosthuizen drives them back. The Bulls keep the ball alive and Hougaard scores the bonus point TRY.

83.00: Morne Steyn adds the conversion.

That's it.

The full time score is Bulls 32 Cheetahs 21

Scorers

Bulls
Tries - B Basson, D Rossouw 2, F Hougaard
Pen - M Steyn 2
Con - M Steyn 3
Drop -
Cards - Deon Stegmann (78) yellow

Cheetahs
Tries - A Johnson 2, S Ebersohn
Pen -
Con - S Ebersohn 2
Drop -
Cards - Coenie Oosthuizen (64) yellow

Match Officials
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Sindile Mayende (South Africa), Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Television match official: Gerrie Coetzee(South Africa)

Teams

Bulls : Zane Kirchner , Akona Ndungane , Jaco Pretorius, Wynand Olivier, Bjorn Basson , Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Pierre Spies , Dewald Potgieter , Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield (c), Bakkies Botha, Werner Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Dean Greyling

Replacements: Gary Botha , Rossouw de Klerk , Flip van der Merwe , Danie Rossouw , Dustin Jinka, Francois Brummer (5), Gerhard van den Heever .

Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corne Uys, 11 Philip Snyman, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Ashley Johnson, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.

Reserves: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Lourens Adriaanse, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen/Hendrik Roodt, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Hennie Daniller.

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