Bulls put half-ton past Japan's Eagles
The visitors dominated all phases of play and scored eight tries in total.
And to make things worse, Japanese rugby was also handed a lesson in big match organization – as many fans missed the kick-off and a large part of the first half due to traffic congestion.
Organizers said before the game that "tonight the stadium will be close to a full-house for the first time in its history".
However, there were still a lot of empty seats at kick-off.
Those in the stadium on a hot and humid evening saw the Eagles play bravely, but with their forwards giving away seven kilogrammes and nine centimetres per man and their backs 13 kilogrammes and nine centimetres, it was always going to be a long night.
And so it proved as the Bulls dominated possession and territory – though the Eagles to their credit did make them work hard in the heat.
"It was a hard fought game and we really enjoyed it," said Blue Bulls captain Pieter Labuschagne.
Tries by Deon Stegmann and Dean Greyling, both of which were converted by Louis Fouche, saw the Bulls race away to a 14-0 lead – as the Eagles struggled with the intensity and physicality of the opposition.
"They put us under a lot of pressure and that forced up to make mistakes," said Eagles captain Ryohei Mitomo.
A penalty by Mitomo closed the gap and showed that the Eagles were taking things seriously, even though this was a preseason friendly.
But that was as good as it got as the Blue Bulls – who contained six Springboks, including Francois Hougaard who will play for the Eagles in the Top League after this year's Rugby World Cup – proved they had too much firepower – even with the sides playing uncontested scrums for 55 minutes after the Eagles' two hookers were injured in the first half.
Labuschagne and Burger Odendaal both crossed early in the second half, and while the Eagles did well to stop the scoring for a short period the Bulls finished strongly with Hanro Liebenberg, Odendaal, Rudolph Snyman, Daniel Kriel all going over to ensure the vuvuzelas resonated around Machida.
Scorers:
For the Eagles:
Pen: Wada
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Stegmann, Greyling, Labuschagne, Odendaal 2, Liebenberg, Snyman, Kriel
Cons: Fouché 2, Schoeman 3
Teams:
Eagles: 15 Michael Bond, 14 Koujirou Fujichika, 13 Richard Havili Kaufusi, 12 Ryohei Mitomo, 11 Tokiro Harada, 10 Taku Wada, 9 Takeru Fukui, 8 Karl Lowe, 7 Naoto Shimada, 6 Murphy Leilua, 5 Takashi Kikutani, 4 Suguru Hidaka, 3 Akira Jo, 2 Mitsugu Yamamoto, 1 Takatoshi Sugawara.
Replacements – from: Yusuke Niwai, Kanta Higashionna, Yasuo Yamaji, Shohei Yuzawa, Ryouta Suginaga, Ryota Takagi, Michiyoshi Morita, Masaru Sugaya, Kazuhiko Usami, Muneyuki Uematsu, Naoshi Shimizu, Taisei Hayashi, Kenyu Fujimoto, Yusuke Ochiai.
Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Pieter Labuschagne (captain), 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements – from: Bandise Maku, Andrew Beerwinkel, Rudolph Snyman, Roelof Smit, Ivan van Zyl, Tian Schoeman, Willam Small-Smith, Nqoba Mxoli, Hanro Liebenberg, Dan Kriel, Jannes Kirsten, Kefentse Mahlo.
Referee: Akihisa Aso (Japan)
Assistant referees: Kohei Osawa (Japan), Noboru Ohira (Japan)
