Lions feast on some beefy Bulls

Defending champions go down heavily

It may be a meaningless result, but the Lions earned bragging rights by handing the Blue Bulls one of their biggest Currie Cup defeats ever - beating the defending champions 46-17 in the final qualifying match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions were in complete command from the outset and even though the Bulls score three second half tries, two of those were consolation efforts inside the final five minutes.

The Bulls pack were completely outplayed and it is clear they miss their Springboks - Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Gary Botha, Jacques Cronjé and Pedrie Wannenburg.

The only effect this have is that the Lions finish the qualifying stages in second place on the standings, ahead of the Bulls, and have the easier fixture in the first round of the competition proper.

The Lions will face Griquas in their opening Premier Division match at Ellis Park, while the Bulls will meet the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

But as Lions captain Wikus van Heerden admitted after the match, the real deal starts next week. This was just a good confidence booster.

"It was a great team effort, but next week the real competition starts and then we must do it again," Van Heerden said.

Bulls captain Anton Leonard refused to use the spate of injuries that decimated his team as an excuse, saying that the Lions played well and deserved their win.

On the day the Bulls were simply not up for it, being bullied in all departments - losing several of their line-outs (something you won't find when they have the likes of Matfield and Botha), being beaten at the breakdown regularly throughout the game and slipping far too many tackles.

The Bulls were humiliated at times, twice conceding tries from mauls that started out at line-outs as the bigger and more experienced Lions pack out-muscled them on the day.

The Lions scored six great tries, but the best was set up by captain Wikus van Heerden. From a line-out he busted through in midfield and offloaded to flying winger Wylie Human, who went over in the 66th minute.

It has to be said that this is as close to a Bulls second string selection as you'll get, with about 12 frontline players out - either on Bok duty or injured.

But the Lions deserve all the plaudits they get, because they were thoroughly professional and on Saturday's form will be a real threat in the Currie Cup this year.

The scorers:

For the Lions:
Tries: Schoeman, Van der Merwe, Brits, Stoltz, Human, Penalty try
Cons: Fourie 4, Snyman
Pens: Fourie 2

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Mametsa, Steyn, Fredericks
Con: Steyn