FINAL
VODACOM BULLS 25-17 VODACOM STORMERS
ORLANDO STADIUM – Saturday 29th May 2010
Attendance: tbc
The last ever Super 14 tournament culminated in an all South African Final with the Vodacom Bulls beating the Vodacom Stormers 25-17 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
In the run up to the final, both teams had definitely illustrated that they were deserving of the top two spots, the Bulls leading the table with the most points by some distance, and the Stormers conceding only 17 tries before the play off matches, with the closes contenders being Crusaders on 24 tries.
The Bulls had form having won the only other all SA final in 2007 against the Sharks, and then beating the Hamilton-based Chiefs from New Zealand in 2009 with an identical scoreline to their 2nd consecutive Super 14 win this year.
Right from the outset, fly half Morne Steyn took the bull by the horns so to speak with three penalties in the first quarter to take the Vodacom Bulls into the lead 9-0. By half time, the Bulls charged further ahead thanks to Francois Hougaard’s try which of course Steyn slotted over for the full seven points.
The Stormers weren’t without opportunity, and looked to have scored the first try as captain Schalk Burger put the ball over the line, but the TMO ruled he had played the ball on the ground and was thus denied first blood.
The only first half consolation for the Stormers was a penalty from Peter Grant, which took the finalists into halftime with a 16-3 scoreline and the Bulls firmly in control.
The second half started off more positively for the Capetonians with the electrifying Bryan Habana intercepting Steyn’s pass to score under the posts – easy pickings this time for Grant as the gap closed to 16-10 fifteen minutes in, having missed a penalty already.
But the momentum was short-lived as Steyn punished the Stormers at every given opportunity with another three penalties taking the score up to 25-10 and only four minutes left on the clock.
You can’t win a game if you don’t have possession…the formula worked perfectly for the Bulls.
A moment of complacency from the Bulls allowed replacement scrum half Ricky Januarie to slip through the defensive line to score a try that looked dubiously short but was awarded nevertheless; Grant converted the penalty in the last minute, but unfortunately for the Stormers it was too little too late.
Vodacom Bulls
T: Hougaard
C: Steyn
P: Steyn 6
Vodacom Stormers
T: Habana, Januarie
C: Grant
P: Grant
SEMI FINALS
WEEK 14
Friday 14th May 2010
Crusaders 40 - 22 Brumbies
Waratahs 32 - 16 Hurricanes
Sharks 27 - 22 Force
Saturday 15th May 2010
Blues 30 - 20 Chiefs
Queensland Reds 38 - 36 Highlanders
Cheetahs 59 - 10 Lions
Stormers 38 - 10 Bulls
WEEK 13
Friday 7th May 2010
Hurricanes 44 - 21 Queensland Reds
Bulls 40 - 35 Crusaders
Saturday 8th May 2010
Chiefs 19 - 46 NSW Waratahs
Brumbies 31 - 3 Highlanders
Lions 14 - 56 Blues
Cheetahs 29 - 14 Force
Sharks 20 - 14 Stormers
WEEK 12
Friday 30th April 2010
Highlanders 26 - 10 NSW Waratahs
Stormers 42 - 14 Crusaders
Saturday 1st May 2010
Hurricanes 33 - 27 Chiefs
Brumbies 32 - 12 Queensland Reds
Cheetahs 36 - 32 Blues
Lions 12 - 33 Force
Bulls 27 - 19 Sharks
WEEK 11
Friday 23rd April 2010
Chiefs 25 - 25 Cheetahs
Queensland Reds 16 - 13 Stormers
Force 24 - 16 Crusaders
Saturday 24th April 2010
Highlanders 31 - 33 Hurricanes
NSW Waratahs 19 - 12 Brumbies
Bulls 51 - 11 Lions
Sharks 23 - 10 Blues
WEEK 10
Friday 16th April 2010
Chiefs 15 - 49 Stormers
Brumbies 13 - 23 Hurricanes
Saturday 17th April 2010
Blues 38 - 17 Force
Crusaders 45 - 6 Cheetahs
Queensland Reds 19 - 12 Bulls
Lions 28 - 32 Sharks
WEEK 9
Friday 9th April 2010
Chiefs 19 - 33 Bulls
Saturday 10th April 2010
Highlanders 27 - 41 Force
Blues 21 - 33 Stormers
Crusaders 20 - 13 NSW Waratahs
Brumbies 61 - 15 Cheetahs
Lions 26 - 41 Queensland Reds
WEEK 8
Friday 2nd April 2010
Western Force 16-15 Stormers
Hurricanes 26-26 Crusaders
Saturday 3rd April 2010
Sharks 30-28 Queensland Reds
Blues 32-17 Bulls
Chiefs 27-21 Highlanders
NSW Waratahs 40-17 Cheetahs
WEEK 7
Friday 26th March 2010
Cheetahs 10 - 31 Reds
Highlanders 39 - 29 Lions
Brumbies 30 - 23 Chiefs
Saturday 27th March 2010
Western Force 15 - 28 Bulls
Hurricanes 26 - 29 Sharks
Waratahs 39 - 32 Blues
WEEK 6
Friday 19th March 2010
Bulls 19 - 18 Hurricanes
Blues 39 – 34 Brumbies
Saturday 20th March 2010
Stormers 21 - 8 Cheetahs
Crusaders 46 - 19 Lions
Western Force 10 - 14 Waratahs
Highlanders 16 - 30 Sharks
WEEK 5
Friday 12th March 2010
Chiefs 19 - 26 Crusaders
Waratahs 73 - 12 Lions
Saturday 13th March 2010
Brumbies 24 - 22 Sharks
Bulls 50 - 35 Highlanders
Stormers 37 - 13 Hurricanes
Sunday 14th March 2010
Reds 50 - 10 Force
WEEK 4
Friday 5th March 2010
Chiefs 18 - 23 Reds
Brumbies 24 - 13 Lions
Saturday 6th March 2010
Crusaders 33 - 20 Blues
Waratahs 25 - 21 Sharks
Stormers 33 - 0 Highlanders
Cheetahs 28 - 12 Hurricanes
WEEK 3
Friday 26th February 2010
Crusaders 35 - 6 Sharks
Stormers 17 - 19 Brumbies
Saturday 27th February 2010
Hurricanes 33 - 18 Lions
Reds 18 - 27 Blues
Force 19 - 37 Chiefs
Cheetahs 24 - 31 Highlanders
Bulls 48 - 38 Waratahs
WEEK 2
Friday 19th February 10
Sharks 20-25 Cheetahs
Highlanders 15-19 Blues
Reds 41-20 Crusaders
Lions 65-72 Chiefs
Saturday 20th February 10
Bulls 50-32 Brumbies
Stormers 27-6 Waratahs
Hurricanes 47-22 Western Force
WEEK 1
Friday 12th February 2010
Western Force 15 - 24 Brumbies
Cheetahs 34-51 Bulls
Blues 20-34 Hurricanes
Saturday 13th February 2010
Lions 13-26 Stormers
Reds 30-32 Waratahs
Sharks 18-19 Chiefs
Crusaders 32-17 Highlanders