Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Blue Bulls and Cheetahs produce a thriller at Loftus

Monday, July 26, 2010

Blue Bulls and Cheetahs produce a thriller at Loftus

While the Tri Nations takes center stage, the Currie Cup has been heating up in South Africa with some top quality action taking place around the country. The Blue Bulls hosted the Cheetahs this weekend in what turned out to be a thriller. Skip to the video now to avoid the spoiler.

It was a typically brutish game where both sides bashed each other for virtually the full eighty minutes. The Currie Cup finalists of last year showed that there was no love lost as the Cheetahs, led by Springbok stalwart Juan Smith, took it to the Bulls at Loftus.

In the end it came down to a dramatic finish as the Cheetahs snuck over with time up after an intense siege on the Bulls tryline. The try was scored by replacement hooker Skipper Badenhorst, and then it was up to youngster Sias Ebersohn, the twin brother of Sevens star Robert, who stepped up and slotted the deciding kick unfazed.

The 25-23 victory was due in part to the Cheetahs staying in the game with some cool kicking from starting flyhalf Louis Strydom after the Bulls showed indiscipline and were penalized on numerous occasions.

Eightman Ashley Johnson, Springbok tourist at the end of last year, showed what an asset he is to any side as he ran his socks off all day. Take note of the big hit on him by massive Bulls prop Dean Greyling, the same guy who snuck a punch in on the Cheetahs front rower Coenie Oosthuizen.

It was a great game of rugby and there was plenty of good play that couldn’t be included in these highlights. The final try came after many phases of play, so those are shown in real time here. Enjoy.

Time: 07:54

zeroist

By Anonymous, at July 26, 2010 5:01 pm
Looked like a great match, Skipper looks a bit like Brad Pitt too haha.

By Redron, at July 26, 2010 5:06 pm
Some epic rugby right there.

By David, at July 26, 2010 5:25 pm
Juan looks a bit like Matt Damon

By Disco, at July 26, 2010 5:30 pm
Did the ref not play that advantage far too long?

By Anonymous, at July 26, 2010 6:27 pm
Great match.

Seems that Pro Legoete (the ref) could have yellow carded the Bulls for several "red zone" infractions in the last 4+ mins.

By cheyanqui, at July 26, 2010 6:27 pm
I was also thinking that advantage went on for aaages. Great finish though anyway

By Greiffel, at July 26, 2010 6:39 pm
think it was another infraction, orginal penalty was further back

By Anonymous, at July 26, 2010 6:53 pm
Jesus! Pro Legoete was reffing this match? What an insult to both teams.
And what an incredible game, those last 4 minutes were insane!

By Anonymous, at July 26, 2010 7:13 pm
Aren't you supposed to gain some form of advantage before the ref can declare "advantage over".

I think the ref had two choices: either let the play go on or keep blowing his whistle and send Bulls players to the bin.
I'm glad he chose the first, because it gave us a great ending to the match and it didn't taint the Cheetahs win.

Also: what the hell is Jacco v/d Westhuizen doing for the Bulls? He used to be pretty good when he was at Leicester, but from the last few highlight videos he looks like absolute rubbish.
He's been dumped on his ass at least once in every one of those videos!

By Sander Baas, at July 26, 2010 7:28 pm
Man, that was a great game! It was like one of those great Harlequins overtime comebacks.

One thing you can say for sure is that the Currie Cup has some amazing defense - especially on the line. First the Bulls held the Cheetahs to only concede 3 points, then the Cheetahs kept the Bulls from scoring for what seemed like ages. What a match!

Watching the match, I thought the ref did everything right playing advantage as long as he did (though he wasn't great at explaining what the advantage was for, which was disappointing).

By miner, at July 26, 2010 8:59 pm
To those asking about the long advantage: The ref was very consistant the entire game about giving a very very long advantage.

By Anonymous, at July 26, 2010 9:40 pm
The Atmosphere had to have been electric in those dying minutes.

By EARugbyFan, at July 26, 2010 9:54 pm
Great advantage played by the ref, also had the guts to keep calling penalties when the Blue Bulls were obviously infringing.

Brilliant pass by Ashley Johnson to win the game. Too often players lack the imagination and balls to pull off a play like that. He actually put himself into a typical trailing forward position to suck the Bulls in before throwing that audacious pass.

He's a great rugby player, his body type seems to be a little too inbetween the back row and front row to get selected at higher levels. Then again, if he produces at the Currie Cup and Super 14 level, why not give him a run besides just with the development side?

By Canadian Content, at July 26, 2010 10:24 pm
Great finish to the game. As a forward, I loved the goal-line tactics of the cheetahs: there was ALWAYS a pod of 3 ready to go for the next drive. Outstanding!

And epic defense to keep them out for that long.

By granite, at July 27, 2010 1:36 am
It may have just been the camera angle or something, but both the Bulls and the Cheetahs props looked friggin huge - in fact, both front rows looked massive.

Also, glad to see the refs et al. not getting involved with the short scuffle between forwards. Just a quick tussle and back to the game. That's how those fatties do it. Great stuff.

By tiny dancer, at July 27, 2010 7:20 am
It ain the camera, they're South Africans, and only eat meat and the dreams of children.
South African forwards are almost always huge. The advantage being that they are huge. The disadvantage being that they are so huge, they tend to be a little slow on their feet and struggle with a higher tempo game and little blokes with quick feet and passing.

By Jono, at July 27, 2010 8:03 am
I think the bull were unlucky becuase what about the knock on when the clock went past the 80?

By Anonymous, at July 27, 2010 9:48 am
Great thinking by the Cheetah's 8 for the last try

Is it just me or does he bear an uncanny resemblance to Colin Charvis?

By Paolo, at July 27, 2010 11:01 am
WOW that was good, great game!

By Anonymous, at July 27, 2010 11:49 am
what a kick to win the match,cant believe nobody's commented on it yet.a left-footer on the wrong side,onthe touchline,all that pressure....and he just slotted it

By Leeners93, at July 27, 2010 1:44 pm
ashley johnson reminds me of the guy from the gridiron gang

By Anonymous, at July 27, 2010 1:45 pm
Colin Charvis as number 8 he he he

Looked a good, tough game. As I did not see it who were the best young players that might be future boks?

By NiWiTa, at July 27, 2010 1:47 pm
Tiny dancer, those two props that had a little dance at the end of a ruck are particularly big units – Dean Greyling of the Bulls and Coenie Oosthuizen of the Cheetahs (who is close on 130kg and only about 20 years old).

By katman, at July 27, 2010 2:14 pm
Cheers for the info, Katman.

By tiny dancer, at July 27, 2010 6:29 pm
No, that advantage wasn't long at all, listen carefully and you will hear him say ''new advantage'', which happens if there is a new infringement. Ears, for listening.

Well, not so much a brilliant game, but a brilliant ending. Well deserved.

By Les Bleus, at July 30, 2010 3:05 am