THE Border Bulldogs fought bravely but their efforts proved ultimately fruitless as they went down 30-22 to the Eastern Province Kings in a Vodacom Cup match played at the Buffalo City Stadium on Saturday .
The Kings were indebted to a strong forward performance that allowed them to dictate play and pick up a relatively comfortable win over a battling Bulldogs team.
In a scrappy match, big hits, handling errors and running rugby was the order of the day . Border took a 3-0 lead after a spell of early pressure led to a penalty, converted by flyhalf Karlo Aspeling.
That was to be their only respite in an opening half hour dominated by the Kings.
The Kings replied with penalty from flyhalf Wesley Dunlop after a period of strong forward play led to the Bulldogs infringing at the breakdown.
The first try came in the 17th minute after the Kings chipped away at the Border defence with some good running and strong forward drives, which saw eighthman Paul Schoeman bashing over . The successful conversion put the Kings 10-3 up.
EP’s confidence to run at the Bulldogs was evident as they ran the ball from their own 22. After making their way into the Border half, the Kings underlined their forward dominance by turning down a kickable penalty in favour of a scrum.
In the 24th minute the Kings scored their second try after an ill-advised quick 22m drop out from the Bulldogs was charged down. It resulted in hooker Virgil Lacomb charging over for a converted try, making it 17-3.
The Kings third try came in the 29th minute after good running rugby ended with flanker Devin Oosthuizen diving over in the corner.
The missed conversion ended a good spell of dominance for the Kings. With EP having established a 19-point lead in the first 30 minutes the Bulldogs fans could have been forgiven for expecting another big loss.
But the Bulldogs had other ideas and began a good 20-minute phase that got them to within five points of the Kings early in the second half.
The Bulldogs scored their first try of the game in the 35th minute after a good team move. It culminated in brilliance from winger Jo Serrani who received the ball out wide, burst past a static Kings defence before brushing off two covering defenders to go over in the corner. The touchline conversion made the halftime score 22-10.
The Bulldogs picked up where they left off before halftime with some great backline play leading to Serrani going over for his second try of the match in the 44th minute.
After another good conversion from Aspeling the Kings may have been a little worried with the score 22-17.
However, their nerves were settled on 54 minutes when Kings fullback Siviwe Sozwapi collected a clever chip over the Bulldogs defence and touched down for the bonus point try.
The missed conversion from Dunlop set off a barren spell in which neither team managed to score any points until a penalty in the 75th minute from Kings wing Scott van Breda put them up 30-17.
The Bulldogs ended the match with a consolation try by scrumhalf Sinovuyo Nyoka after the hooter as they gave their fans something to cheer about. Aspeling unfortunately missed the relatively easy conversion to end the match 30-22.
The win moved the Kings to second in the South Section table on seven points, while the Bulldogs sit bottom of the table without a point.
Bulldogs scrap but not enough bite
The Kings were indebted to a strong forward performance that allowed them to dictate play and pick up a relatively comfortable win over a battling Bulldogs team.
In a scrappy match, big hits, handling errors and running rugby was the order of the day . Border took a 3-0 lead after a spell of early pressure led to a penalty, converted by flyhalf Karlo Aspeling.
That was to be their only respite in an opening half hour dominated by the Kings.
The Kings replied with penalty from flyhalf Wesley Dunlop after a period of strong forward play led to the Bulldogs infringing at the breakdown.
The first try came in the 17th minute after the Kings chipped away at the Border defence with some good running and strong forward drives, which saw eighthman Paul Schoeman bashing over . The successful conversion put the Kings 10-3 up.
EP’s confidence to run at the Bulldogs was evident as they ran the ball from their own 22. After making their way into the Border half, the Kings underlined their forward dominance by turning down a kickable penalty in favour of a scrum.
In the 24th minute the Kings scored their second try after an ill-advised quick 22m drop out from the Bulldogs was charged down. It resulted in hooker Virgil Lacomb charging over for a converted try, making it 17-3.
The Kings third try came in the 29th minute after good running rugby ended with flanker Devin Oosthuizen diving over in the corner.
The missed conversion ended a good spell of dominance for the Kings. With EP having established a 19-point lead in the first 30 minutes the Bulldogs fans could have been forgiven for expecting another big loss.
But the Bulldogs had other ideas and began a good 20-minute phase that got them to within five points of the Kings early in the second half.
The Bulldogs scored their first try of the game in the 35th minute after a good team move. It culminated in brilliance from winger Jo Serrani who received the ball out wide, burst past a static Kings defence before brushing off two covering defenders to go over in the corner. The touchline conversion made the halftime score 22-10.
The Bulldogs picked up where they left off before halftime with some great backline play leading to Serrani going over for his second try of the match in the 44th minute.
After another good conversion from Aspeling the Kings may have been a little worried with the score 22-17.
However, their nerves were settled on 54 minutes when Kings fullback Siviwe Sozwapi collected a clever chip over the Bulldogs defence and touched down for the bonus point try.
The missed conversion from Dunlop set off a barren spell in which neither team managed to score any points until a penalty in the 75th minute from Kings wing Scott van Breda put them up 30-17.
The Bulldogs ended the match with a consolation try by scrumhalf Sinovuyo Nyoka after the hooter as they gave their fans something to cheer about. Aspeling unfortunately missed the relatively easy conversion to end the match 30-22.
The win moved the Kings to second in the South Section table on seven points, while the Bulldogs sit bottom of the table without a point.
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