THE Vodacom Blue Bulls thumped the Welwitchias 50-25 (halftime 24-10) in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge match at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday afternoon.
Scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl scored a hat-trick for the visitors, two of which were scored in the first half, in what turned out to be a one-sided affair that helped the Blue Bulls get back to winning ways after stumbling against the Steval Pumas last weekend.
Credit must be given to the Welwitchias who pushed the visitors hard in the first half and only trailed 24-10 at the break courtesy of a try by fullback David Philander and a conversion and penalty goal by flyhalf Theuns Kotze.
The floodgates opened in the second half as the Blue Bulls scored five tries through Van Zyl, prop Andrew Beerwinkel, eighthman Clyde Davids, replacement loose forward Eduan Lubbe and utility back Jade Stighling with the home team only able to cross the whitewash on two occasions, through replacement prop Andries Rousseau and outside centre JC Greyling.
The Blue Bulls were littered with players that formed the nucleus of the UP-Tuks team that lifted the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International trophy a few weeks ago and the combinations proved to be fruitful as the visitors started to pull away on the scoreboard.
The Welwitchias have little choice but to return to the drawing board in terms of their defence as they leaked their second big loss in as many weeks in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge and will have to bounce back strongly if they wish to make the playoffs.
Flyhalf Tony Jantjies had an erratic afternoon with the boot as he missed three conversions but his conversion of Stighling’s five pointer proved to be the final points of the match with five minutes left on the clock. – supersport.com
SCORERS
Welwitchias – Tries: David Philander, Andries Rousseau, JC Greyling; Cons: Theuns Kotze (2); Pens: Kotze (2).
Vodacom Blue Bulls – Tries: Divan Rossouw, Ivan van Zyl (3), Andrew Beerwinkel, Clyde Davids, Eduan Lubbe, Jade Stighling; Cons: Tony Jantjies (5).
