The Vodacom Bulls produced just enough through a solid opening stanza to win an error-ridden pre-season match against the Emirates Lions 21-17 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

While it is difficult to read too much into the opening game of the pre-season, especially with a number of the players being fringe players and neither side wanting to show too much, there was a lot of enterprise but still too little in terms of clinical finishing to excite either coaching staff.

Both sides suffered from white line fever at times, building up promising moves deep into the 22 metre area before losing the ball through an unforced error or two, and the scoreline would have been higher wasn’t it for the early season jitters.

But there were a few memorable performances – Ruan Steenkamp and the midfield pairing of JT Jackson and Franco Naude, the speed of Rosko Specman and the scrum in the first half for the Bulls, while the Lions midfield sensation Wandisile Simelane showed he will be a handful this season.

Gianni Lombard, Tyrone Green, Vincent Tshituka and Ruan Vermaak also put in good cameos to impress their coaching staff.

If the Bulls were to show their intent, it came early in the first half. Two power scrums destroyed the young Lions pack, and the sustained pressure led to two similar tries to put the home side 14-0 up.

First it was Franco Naude with a powerful leg drive in the midfield to power over and minutes later his SA under-20 partner JT Jackson added his name to the scoresheet with a similar try.

Things went from bad to worse for the Lions when they finally got some ball, and made their way into the Bulls half, only to spill a pass into the hands of Springbok Sevens star Rosko Specman, who needed no invitation to sprint 70 metres downfield to make it 21-0.

But then the Lions slowly started creeping out of their shells and their loose forwards started taking control. Some deft play by Wandisile Simelane found a gap or two and you could see the confidence rise with every step forward.

And pressure came with it, and the Bulls infringed. Five straight penalties meant the pressure increased and Ruben Nortje found his way to the sinbin for repeated infringements. And the Lions pressure continued.

Eventually something had to give and halfback Morne van der Berg found some open space to open the scoring before minutes later Stiaan Pienaar had the luck of a forward pass being missed to put in a blistering run down the touchline to score the second try.

At 21-10 at the break, it seemed a fair reflection of the play, with the Bulls experience telling a little more in the end.

The second half produced few fireworks and reminded many of how much work still needs to be done before the opening weekend of Super Rugby, with James Venter’s score late in the game making the scoreline palatable for both sides.

More will be seen in the next few weeks as the teams show more of their hand, but both sides would be satisfied at the hit-out, even though there is much still to work on.

Scorers

Vodacom Bulls – tries: Franco Naude, JT Jackson, Rosko Specman. Conversions: Manie Libbok (3)

Emirates Lions – tries: Morne van der Berg, Stiaan Pienaar, James Venter. Conversion: Jan-Luc Cilliers.