Back-to-back wins for Bulls
The Bulls successfully defended their Super 14 crown by beating the Stormers 25-17 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.
Last Updated: 31/05/10 5:33pm
The Bulls successfully defended their Super 14 crown by beating the Stormers 25-17 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.
Just as they did in the Super 14 throughout the season, the men from Pretoria dominated the all-South African final from start to finish to claim the title for a third time.
Winger Francois Hougaard scored the Bulls' only try in the first half, with fly-half Morne Steyn once more proving the difference as he booted 20 points.
The Stormers had some hope as Springbok winger Bryan Habana raced in with an intercepted try in the 54th minute, against his former team who he helped first win the title back in 2007.
Replacement Ricky Januarie also went over late on as the Cape Town outfit outscored the Bulls two tries to one, but Steyn's boot made all the difference as they claimed a third title in four years.
Bright starts
Both sides made bright starts to the match, seeing plenty of possession without making the most of it, in what was a historic game for South African rugby - a major final of a predominantly white sport being played in a black area in a country where racial tensions still exist.
The game had to wait 10 minutes for its first points, which predictably came from the boot of Steyn after Wicus Blaauw conceded a penalty right in front for illegal scrumming.
At the same point, the hosts were dealt a blow with Gerhard van den Heever having to go off with what looked like a pulled muscle and Jaco van der Westhuyzen coming on instead.
The lead was doubled shortly after when Jaque Fourie's error of interfering in a maul handed another opportunity to Steyn which he duly took.
The visitors tried to hit back and were almost on the board with their first foray towards the Bulls' line, only for Schalk Burger's touch-down to be ruled out for double movement of the ball on the line.
When the ball went back down the other end, Steyn extended the lead to 9-0 after the Stormers failed to roll away from the maul.
Injury then struck the visitors with Juan de Jongh, one of their star players of the season, having to go off.
First try
And with that followed the opening try of the game - Fourie du Preez's short pass to Hougaard sending him away on a run through the middle, with the winger rounding Joe Pietersen to score under the post.
Steyn added the extras, before the Cape Town side finally got points on the board in the 30th minute when Peter Grant sent over an easy kick after Danie Rossouw was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle.
It was 16-3 at half-time and Grant missed a difficult chance to cut the lead straight afterward with a penalty that faded away to the right.
As the game began to labour, Habana silenced the home crowd by intercepting a Steyn pass on the halfway line and running in under the post.
Grant added the extras to cut the gap to six, but two further penalties either side of a rare miss by Steyn midway through the final quarter deflated the visiting side.
They had little to offer in the final 10 minutes and another three-pointer from the Springbok fly-half sealed the win, before Januarie's late consolation gave the scoreline some respectability.
