The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition's hopes of playing in the semifinals.

The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas' four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.

But Griquas, who held the early lead and crept to within four points shortly after half-time, were rather disappointing after the break.

The Blue Bulls' play varied between very good and sloppy. There were too many loose passes, too many knock-ons and too many wrong decisions. Had they put their passes together, especially early on, they would have had their bonus point try well before the 45th minute.

As it was, the Blue Bulls scored 17 points when Griquas were reduced to 14 men with their captain, Jonathan Mokuena, sin-binned for a cynical ruck offence at a stage when Griquas were 10-7 ahead, having scored two tries to the Blue Bulls' one.

In the second half the visitors again conceded 17 points when flank Rohan Kitshoff was sin-binned, and generally Griquas' disregard for the laws cost them far too many penalties to be competitive.

Griquas probably didn't believe their luck when Sarel Pretorius went through far too easily after a tap penalty in the fifth minute, and again when flank Davon Raubenheimer was presented the easiest of tries as the ball popped out of a Blue Bulls scrum near their own line seven minutes later.

Their third, by centre Barry Geel early in the second half, could be attributed to poor Bulls defence, and at 24-20 the visitors seemed back in the game with three tries apiece.

It was probably Springbok wing Bryan Habana's last match for the Blue Bulls at Loftus, and the speedster celebrated with a typical 48-metre intercept try.

Habana scored a second try, four minutes from time, but the winger who would dearly love to win the Currie Cup with the Blue Bulls before he moves to Cape Town after the season, then had to leave the field with what seemed a leg muscle injury.

The home side greatly disrupted Griquas' lineouts and their scrummaging, like their general play, was up and down. But on the whole, the Blue Bulls have enough to be happy about and had a good workout in the run-in to the playoffs. It's now about doing those few little refinements.

Griquas now need two points from their match against the Sharks in Kimberley next Saturday to virtually ensure a place in the semifinals.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Kirchner, Rossouw, Steyn 2, Spies, Habana 2, Maku
Cons: Steyn 5, Brummer
Pens: Steyn 3

For Griquas:
Tries: Pretorius, Raubenheimer, Geel, Olivier
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier

Yellow cards: Jonathan Mokuena (Griquas, 23 - professional foul, tripping), Rohan Kitshoff (Griquas, 53 - foul play, stiff-arm tackle)

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuun, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Francois Brummer, 21 John Mametsa, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Dries Kruger, 17 Andre Schlechter, 18 Brendon Snyman, 19 Wesley Wilkens, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Gavin Passens.

Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Michael Cupido