Blue Bulls flyhalf Manie Libbok and his Pumas counterpart, Chris Smith, were in superb form in the opening round of the Currie Cup Premier Division on Friday and helped steer their teams to vital bonus point victories.
The Blue Bulls defeated the Free State Cheetahs 34-12 in Bloemfontein for an invaluable away win, while the Pumas outplayed Griquas 42-19 in Nelspruit as the Currie Cup got off to an exciting start.
Libbok scored 17 points for his team, while Smith earned 22 points in a memorable Currie Cup debut, with both players scoring tries and keeping the scoreboard ticking with accurate goal-kicking.
Free State Cheetahs – Tries:
Joseph Dweba, Shaun Venter. Conversion: Tian Schoeman.
Blue Bulls – Tries:
Manie Libbok, Penalty try, Jade Stiglingh, Divan Rossouw. Conversions: Libbok (3). Penalty Goals: Libbok (2).
Pumas – Tries:
Chris Smith, Hennie Skorbinski, Stefan Ungerer, Neil Maritz and Marnus Schoeman; Conversions: Smith (4); Penalties: Smith (3).
Griquas – Tries:
AJ Coertzen, Tiaan Meyer and Conway Pretorius; Conversions: George Whitehead (2).