Stegmann sees red in Bulls win

Editor

The Bulls shook off a slow first half to secure a 28-13 win over the Kings in Port Elizabeth, but it wasn't without some drama.

The Bulls shook off a slow first half to secure a 28-13 win over the Kings in Port Elizabeth, but it wasn't without some drama.

The away side finished the match permanently down to 14 men, after captain Deon Stegmann was sent off for blatant elbows to the face of a Kings player at the bottom of a ruck.

It stemmed the momentum off his side after they had run in three tries beforehand, including an effort from the disgraced skipper.

Much of the contest for the first 50 minutes simply felt like the Kings blunt attack probing away at a solid Bulls defensive wall. For a team coached by Carlos Spencer the Kings showed far too little threat.

Early set-piece errors were a hindrance for each side, though in different areas.

Grant Hattingh was a constant threat on the Kings lineout when they placed themselves in attacking positions within the Bulls 22, while on the other hand the Kings scrum gave up penalties at unfortunate times due to binding issues.

Even though territory eluded them in the first quarter the Bulls were worthy leaders, with their defence holding out when under the cosh.

Potgieter opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a penalty but couldn't land a drop goal attempt a few minutes later, when chance for the away side were at a premium.

Potgieter was the influence though behind the game's first try, with the experienced number ten shining throughout.

A well-weighted grubber behind the on-rushing defence bounced up nicely for William Small-Smith, a late replacement for JJ Englebrecht, as the Bulls went into an 8-0 lead.

Not by any coincidence, the first time the Kings managed to secured a lineout in the Bulls 22 they came away with points. A scrum a few minutes later saw Dean Greyling penalised and Scott van Breda responded, landing the Kings first points with a penalty.

A second strike from Van Breda shortly after cut the gap to just two points, but there was still enough time before the break for Potgieter to strike again, landing a penalty on the hooter for an 11-6 lead to the Bulls.

Bjorn Basson gave the Bulls a perfect start to the second half with his try. The Springbok wing was the first to get hands to his own grubber with only the full-back remaining, a poacher's score putting the Bulls well ahead.

A undeniable shift in gears from the Bulls pack after 50 minutes gave them the perfect platform to seal the result, even if the points weren't immediate.

Potgieter's third penalty made sure of that before his captain, Deon Stegmann, killed off any chance of a Kings comeback with a try.

Running from deep after good work from Rudy Paige, the flanker had the speed and size to crash over and open up the opportunity of a try bonus point.

The procession to that fourth try felt inevitable and the Bulls did in fact score, only for the effort to be wiped out.

Potgieter's cross-field kick was brilliantly taken in the air by Akona Ndungane, but foul play in the build-up was spotted and Stegmann was on his way.

There was frustratingly to be no fourth try, simply a solid win for Frans Ludeke and his men even despite Darron Nell grabbing a consolation try after the hooter.

The scorers:

For Kings:
Pen: Van Breda 2
Yellow Card: Bulbring

For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Small-Smith, Basson, Stegmann
Cons: Potgieter 2
Pens: Potgieter 3
Yellow Card: Mbonambi
Red Card: Stegmann

Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Devin Oosthuizen, 6 Shaun McDonald, 5 Steven Sykes (c), 4 David Bulbring, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Mike van Vuuren, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 BG Uys, 19 Darron Nell, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Tobie Botes, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa

Blue Bulls: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 William-Small Smith, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann (c), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Basil Short, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Tony Jantjies/Tian Schoeman, 22 Ryan Nell

Referee: Quinton Immelman
Assistant Referees: Christie du Preez, Vusi Msibi
TMO: Jason Jaftha