By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK
South African provincial rugby outfit the Bulls got their Super 14 warm-up campaign off to winning ways by seeing off a stubborn Lions rugby fifteen 28 -14 after both sides went into the break with half the tally in a closely-contested encounter at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday.
Despite boasting a number of players from the recently crowned World Cup champions’ team, the star-studded Tswane outfit failed to impose themselves against a Lions side that had Jaco Pretorius reigning supreme with some deft touches and near faultless interpretation of the new laws governing the oval ball.
Pretorius crowned a good performance with two copybook tries that were masterfully goaled by Louis Strydom and Chris Jonck respectively.
Springboks Bryan Habana and Guthro Steenkamp visited the touchline on each occasion while Dewald Potgieter and Werner Kruger were not to be outdone either – matching the pair’s exploits in similar fashion.
Derick Hougaard returned the compliment with his educated boot by converting all four tries with the precision of a seasoned butcher.
The Bulls certainly need to jack up their act and work on their concentration and ball distribution if they are to be serious contenders for the Super 14 title they won last year.
The reigning Super-14 champions committed a lot of errors and gave away penalties at will – something that could cost them dearly against formidable opponents when the new Super 14 season gets under way.