Rampant Bulls thrash Welwitschias

The Vodacom Blue Bulls went on the rampage as they ran in 14 tries for a massive 92-8 victory against the Namibian Welwitschias at the Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium on Saturday. 

The physically superior Bulls dominated all aspects of the game, as they raced into a 47-3 lead at halftime and although the Welwitschias managed to keep them at bay for a while and even scored a try of their own in the second half, the Bulls brought on fresh substitutes who finished off the job with three tries in the last 10 minutes.

The Bulls fielded a strong side including some former Springboks like captain and eighthman Nizaam Carr, rightwing Sergeal Petersen and centre Aphiwe Dyanti and they soon stamped their authority on the game when left wing Devon Williams cut through the backline to score behind the posts, with flyhalf Jaco van der Walt converting. 

With the Bulls’ forwards dominating the set pieces and their backline attacking at each opportunity, flyhalf Jaco van der Walt and fullback Boeta Chaimberlain touched down in quick succession from flowing backline attacks to go 21-0 ahead.

The Welwitschias opened up their account with a penalty by flyhalf Denzo Bruwer but the Bulls stretched their lead when flanker Corne Beets and prop Francois Klopper both went over from forward mauls, while they also were awarded a penalty try after obstruction at a lineout maul. 

The Bulls finished the first half off in style when Carr, Dantyi and Chris Smit combined to good effect to send Petersen over and with Van der Walt once again converting they took a 47-3 lead at the halftime break. 

Dyanti brought the 50 up when he touched down barely two minutes into the second half, but the Welwitschias rallied strongly and finally scored when centre Alcino Izaacs went over after heavy pressure on the Bulls’ line.

The Welwitschias showed more resolve and managed to keep the Bulls at bay for long periods, but Bulls’ coach Jake White brought on a host of second half substitutes and they finished off the job with six more tries in the final quarter. 

Beets and Chaimberlain both scored their second tries, while Stravino Jacobs scored two, and Henry Immelmann and Juann Els one each as they completed an emphatic win. 

Welwitschias ‘outmuscled’

The Welwitschias were completely outplayed and ‘outmuscled’ as captain !Gaoseb admitted after the game. 

“It’s the Bulls so we expected a physical game – they moved the ball from side to side and at some point we just couldnt keep up and the score reflects that as well. But I’m proud of the boys under the circumstances, it’s really hard here at home, and having opposition of the standard of the Bulls really helps us, so thanks to them for coming and bringing a competitive team so that we can measure ourselves and see exactly where we are. We will now have to go back to the drawing board and see where we can get better,” he said. 

“It was a test of strength at the front and they just outmuscled us, but it’s good to have game time like this because we will be playing Portugal in two weeks time so it’s good preparation for us. Our squad is still very young, so we are building for the future,” he added.

!Gaoseb also had a word of appreciation for the crowd of about 4 000 that attended the game. 

“We are very thankful to the fans for coming and appreciate their support – keep on supporting us, at some point we will get the wins,” he said. 

Welwitschias fullback Lorenzo Louis said they made too many mistakes.

“It was a tough game, the collisions were hard and we couldnt really get out of the blocks at the beginning, but today was just about preparation, we are preparing for the Africa Cup so it was not about the result. We still have a lot of things to work on and I think the coach will be drilling us hard especially on fitness, but we made too many mistakes and they punished us. Against a professional team like that you cant afford to make mistakes so we have to make sure we dont make those mistakes against Portugal,” he said.