Bulls, Province in Loftus stalemate

The Blue Bulls and Western Province played to a scintillating 36-all draw in a thrilling Round 14 Currie Cup match at Loftus in Pretoria on Saturday, a game of rugby that reinforces the believe that South African rugby is heading back to the top of the world heap.

Class act: Marius Joubert

The result, which saw both teams take three league points from the 2004 season's final round robin fixture, secures home ground advantage to Province in next week's play-offs.

The Blue Bulls will host the Lions at Loftus in one semi-final and WP take on the Cheetahs in the other at Newlands.

For drama and action there are few matches that will come close to a game that had it all - some brilliant backline play and plenty of brute force. It even included three yellow cards, as the two top teams in the country threw everything they had at each other.

That the game ended in a stalemate is perhaps just reward for the effort that the 40-odd players which took to the field put in on the day. And yes, both teams used virtually their full quota of replacements.

The one major concern would be the injury to Springbok scrum-half Bolla Conradie, who left the field midway through the first half after taking a few heavy knocks.

It was a game that started with the adrenaline pumping on both sides, much bravado and often too much aggression. It caused referee André Watson to repeatedly talk to the two teams and issue a string of penalties.

In those early exchanges the Bulls' uncompromising approach yielded the most success and they took a 14-0 lead after 18 minutes.

Both their tries came from centre and captain of the day Ettienne Botha. In the first he caught the WP defence napping with a quick sniping break. The second came after a number of strong pick-and-drive forward rushes.

Fly-half Morné Steyn slotted both conversions.

But the turning point in the half came in the 28th minute, when Bulls hooker Danie Coetzee was yellow carded for repeatedly going in at the side of rucks, as the referee finally lost his patience with the numerous transgressions on both sides.

He also warned the Bulls and spoke to both captains.

But it was Province who used their numerical advantage to score four tries in a 10-minute blitz.

The first came when winger Breyton Paulse went over within a minute of Coetzee's departure to the sin bin. From a line-out, which turned into a maul and then became ruck - from where WP launched the attack.

The next try was scored by Bok centre De Wet Barry, who made a great break after flanker Joe van Niekerk made the initial thrust over the advantage line.

An intercept by Jean de Villiers soon gave Province the lead, when he scored try number three.

The final act of the first half was a try, by centre Marius Joubert, which came from a another piece of brilliant creative play by his Bok team-mate Barry.

Gaffie du Toit slotted three of the four conversions to see his team take a 26-14 lead into the break.

After the break the Bulls started with the same fire and drive that saw them take an early first half lead and they almost scored after just three minutes. But the TMO ruled that Pedrie Wannenburg was guilty of making more than one movement in his effort to reach the line.

Wannenburg did score, in the 53rd minute, when the Bulls' massive pack mauled the ball up to within 10 metres from a line-out, before it turned into a ruck and then another ruck. Eventually Wannenburg found a gap between two backs.

Steyn's conversion narrowed the gap to 26-21.

Steyn and Du Toit exchanged penalties to take the score to 29-24.

But then the Bulls came with another tour de force, a massive maul from a line-out which resulted in a try for Warren Brosnihan. The conversion was wide, but the scores were tied at 29-all.

Province's brilliant counter attacking abilities again came to the fore in the 73rd minute, when replacement hooker David Britz stole a ball from what looked a suspiciously offside position. But the referee waved play on and that means the most important man in such a situation had ruled that it was a legal steal.

The counter was swift and with blistering pace the ball went down the WP line. The man to go over for the try, which ultimately secured home ground advantage for Province in the play-offs, was Jean de Villiers - his second score of the day.

The conversion by Du Toit - who had earlier missed a conversion and two penalties - was good and with just seven minutes left on the clock Province knew they had done enough ... well almost.

The Bulls needed to score three times to deny WP home ground advantage and they went about it as if their very lives depended on it.

For six minutes WP held out, sometimes using illegal tactics and once again testing the referee's patience.

This resulted in replacement prop Pat Barnard and replacement lock Johan van Zyl being yellow carded - both for repeated offences - in the 77th and 78th minutes.

Down to 13 men, Province eventually ran out of defenders against the relentless Bulls onslaught, who continued to barge up channel one.

Fly-half Morné Steyn went over for the inevitable try and then landed probably the most important conversion of his life to secure a well-deserved draw for the Bulls.

Man of the match: The Bulls had many heroes, with captain of the day Ettienne Botha his brilliant best in scoring two tries. On the Province side Schalk Burger was his usual busy, bustling self, but my vote for man of the match goes to Province captain, and centre, De Wet Barry for the two crucial first half breaks that set up vital tries. There were also a few other moments of inspirations from a centre who is fast ridding himself of the tag as a crash-ball player.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: E Botha 2, Wannenburg, Brosnihan, Steyn
Cons: Steyn 4
Pen: Steyn

For Western Province:
Tries: Paulse, Barry, De Villiers 2, Joubert
Cons: Du Toit 4
Pens: Du Toit

Yellow cards: Danie Coetzee (Blue Bulls, 28), Pat Barnard (Western Province, 77), Johan van Zyl (Western Province, 78).

The teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Johan Roets, 14 John Mametsa, 13 JP Nel, 12 Ettienne Botha (captain), 11 Gavin Passens, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Norman Jordaan, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Piet Krause, 6 Ruan Vermeulen, 5 Geo Cronjé, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Andries Human, 2 Danie Coetzee, 1 Wessel Roux
Replacements: 16 Kobus van der Walt, 17 Kees Lensing, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Warren Brosnihan, 20 Scott Mathie, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Wynand Olivier

Western Province: 15 Gaffie Du Toit, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 De Wet Barry (captain), 11 Jean De Villiers, 10 Werner Greeff, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Rob Linde, 4 Quinton Davids, 3 Eddie Andrews, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 David Britz, 17 Pat Barnard, 18 Johan van Zyl, 19 David Hendricks, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Gus Theron, 22 Egon Seconds.

Referee: André Watson (SARFU)

By Jan de Koning