Currie Cup - Round 12
Bulls cruise past Pumas
ESPNscrum Staff
September 30, 2011
Bjorn Basson takes on the Leopards defence, Leopards v Griquas, Currie Cup, Profert Olen Park, Potchefstroom, South Africa, July 30, 2010
Bjorn Basson got himself among the tries in Friday's win over the Pumas © Getty Images
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Fly-half Louis Fouche produced a virtuoso performance as the Blue Bulls kept their hopes of place in the Currie Cup play-offs alive with a bonus point-clinching 47-12 demolition of the Pumas in Pretoria on Friday night.

The Bulls made a stirring start at Loftus Versfeld, with lock Flip van der Merwe crossed just six minutes in, after shrugging off a couple of would-be tacklers on his way to the line. Fouche converted and then added a brace of penalties to put the hosts in command.

The Pumas hit back through Jaco Bouwer, who dotted under the posts after a quick tap from Doppies le Roux, bout the Bulls responded with wonderful solo scores from Fouche and CJ Stander. Fouch then slotted a penalty with the last kick of thehalf to send the Bulls in 28-7 up at the interval.

Francois Venter extended the hosts' lead shortly after the restart before the new bedraggled Pumas lost Ashley Buys and Boela Serfontein to the sin-bin. The Bulls capitalised on their numerical advantage, racking up further tries through Arno Botha and Bjorn Basson.

The Pumas managed something of a consolation score when Marius Coetzer flopped over late on but the game belonged to the Bulls, who climb to fourth in the log.

The Lions staged a terrific second-half comeback as they claimed a 25-25 draw against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The Cheetahs had lead 15-5 at the break after fly-half Johan Goosen scored all their points with five successful penalties. And when scrum-half Piet van Zul touched down after the break, which was converted by replacement Sias Ebersohn, the Lions looked set for a comfortable victory.

Bu the Cheetahs fought back after Tewis de Bruyn was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul. Cobus Grobbelaar, Jacobie Adriaanse and Michael Killian all crossed for the Cheetahs, two of which were in the last five minutes. Fly-half Elton Jantjies landed two conversions as the Cheetahs claimed the draw.

Dewladt Duvenage scored a late try as Western Province claimed a 15-10 victory over the Sharks at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

The teams went into the break locked at 7-7 after lock Jean Deysel powered his way over in the corner for the Sharks and winger Danie Poolman finished well for Western Province. Freddie Michalak and Duvenage traded penalties as the game wore on with little spark.

But with the clock ticking down, Michalak's mistake allowed Duvenage to hack the ball ahead and collect before dotting down for the winning try.

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