Five tries in 17 minutes either side of halftime saw the Blue Bulls produce a remarkable comeback to set up a heroic 50-34 Currie Cup victory over Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
The Pretoria side grabbed seven touchdowns in total in a pulsating encounter against their great Cape Town rivals to retain their unbeaten status after four matches and go to the top of the log with 18 points, three more than the Cheetahs.
WP raced into a 27-3 after just 31 minutes in a thrilling opening spell, where everything seemed to go right for the visitors.
A deliberate kicking strategy which saw flyhalf Jurie Matthee kick the leather off the ball paid dividends as the Bulls battled to secure possession.
The rest of the Province attack also put boot to ball often, and not even losing both props Sazi Sandi and Lizo Gqoboka within the first 17 minutes could stop the Capetonians.
In fact, they grew even stronger in the scrums with replacement front-rankers Ali Vermaak and Corné Weilbach getting the edge on Bulls props Dylan Smith and Khutha Mchunu.
WP eventually crossed the whitewash first in the 22 minute through lock Gary Porter, following a line-break by his second-row partner Hendré Stassen.
In the same passage of play, Bulls captain Nizaam Carr received a yellow card for making head contact in a passive tackle on WP No 7 Divan Fuller.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts as former Bulls centre Wandisile Simelane pounced to dot down from grubbers by Matthee, Courtnall Skosan and Angelo Davids, and then scrumhalf Imad Khan finished off a chip-ahead by centre Jonathan Roche and an offload by Simelane.
But the Bulls found a way to halt WP’s momentum just before the break when flyhalf Jaco van der Walt rounded off a move sparked by a break by fullback Boeta Chamberlain, and the comeback had begun.
Gumede ➡️ Dyantyi ➡️ Van der Walt 🔥
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 27, 2024
Bulls close out a tough game against Western Province with a spectacular try 💪 #CurrieCup pic.twitter.com/jntYiN2DnS
Bulls coach Phiwe Nomlomo must have had some choice words for his players in the change-room as they came out a different team in the second half.
Suddenly the intensity and accuracy was evident in their play, and they continued their fight-back as powerful No 8 Mpilo Gumede somehow picked up the ball at the back of a ruck and charged straight through before steaming past Clayton Blommetjies and Matthee for a terrific five-pointer.
Replacement tighthead Francois Klopper and then scrumhalf Zak Burger grabbed further tries, and then captain Carr – who was the official Player of the Match – made up for his first-half yellow card by inspiring his team’s attack from No 8 once Gumede went off injured.
Not only did he carry strongly off the back of the scrum to set up Burger’s try, but Carr was involved a few times in Joe van Zyl’s five-pointer, delivering a superb scoring pass as well.
But flyhalf Jaco van der Walt was timed out with the conversion that he had booted over, so the Bulls led 36-27 with 24 minutes to go.
WP managed to hit back soon afterwards when wing Angelo Davids knocked Van der Walt out of the way, and when replacement Bulls hooker Juann Else was denied a try due to obstruction at a maul, it was anyone’s game at 36-34.
But Else eventually got his reward for an energetic contribution in the second half by scoring from a lineout drive with nine minutes left, and Van der Walt capped a solid display with a late touchdown to bring up 50 points.
WHAT A GAME 😍😍😍🏆🏆🏆
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) July 27, 2024
LET'S GOOOO!!!! pic.twitter.com/Vn9xFaDC4c
Points-Scorers
Blue Bulls 50 – Tries: Jaco van der Walt (2), Mpilo Gumede, Francois Klopper, Zak Burger, Joe van Zyl, Juann Else. Conversions: Van der Walt (6). Penalty: Van der Walt (1).
Western Province 34 – Tries: Gary Porter, Wandisile Simelane, Imad Khan, Angelo Davids. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (4). Penalty: Matthee (1). Drop goal: Matthee (1).