Player Ratings - Bulls

OPINION: The Bulls collapsed like a house of cards for a third consecutive year in the URC Final after going down to Leinster by 7-36 at Croke Park on Friday evening.

*Also read: Player Ratings: Leinster

Johan Ackermann’s men looked lost from the outset and were punished with a deficit of 22 points at halftime, which signalled the writing on the wall.

*Angus Opperman rates the Bulls players!

15 Willie le Roux – 2
His positional play was top-notch as usual, but otherwise he had a shocker. Carried the ball back into his in-goal area, gifting Leinster an attacking scrum, but got away with it. Conceded a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on with Leinster on the attack in the red zone.

14 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 4
Missed a crucial tackle on Hugo Keenan, which led to Reiko Ioane’s try after the hosts caught the Bulls napping with a quick line-out throw. Had glimpses of his attacking prowess but otherwise endured a quiet Final.

13 Canan Moodie – 2
Had the worst possible start, conceding a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on in the opening minute, putting his team under immense pressure. Missed a crucial high ball inside his 22, which led to the Bulls ultimately conceding their third try in the 26th minute. Got his team’s only try in the 62nd minute. Lost the most turnovers as well (8).

12 Harold Vorster – 4
A quiet evening by his standards, didn’t do much wrong, but didn’t impose himself on the game as much as we’ve seen previously. Showed good leadership to get referee Piardi to check if he scored a try.

11 Stravino Jacobs – 5
Worked hard but fumbled a foot race with an open try line after kicking the ball into the Leinster 22 with Sam Prendergast reclaiming possession. Made the joint most linebreaks (3) with Hugo Keenan.

10 Handre Pollard – 1
His worst performance in a Bulls jersey this season. Fumbled a pass from Johann Grobbelaar, which led to a loose ball being kicked ahead, leading to Tommy O’Brien’s opening try. Failed to dictate play for his team, although the Bulls had limited opportunities on attack. Kicked a penalty dead on halftime when his team were 0-22 down.

9 Embrose Papier – 6
Kicked good contestables from the base to get the Bulls in the right areas, but found himself under pressure at times due to Leinster’s rush defence. Didn’t do much wrong, but didn’t have all the space he usually thrives on.

8 Cameron Hanekom – 6
Won a crucial breakdown penalty in his red zone with Leinster hot on the attack with Moodie in the sinbin. Sparked an attack in the second half to get the Bulls in a good field position. Showed up defensively with 12 tackles.

7 Elrigh Louw – 7
Carried hard with 14 and didn’t shy away from making his tackles (12). Held a player up over the line to save a certain try, keeping his team in the game.

6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) – 6
Defensively strong, making the second most tackles (23) and a nuisance at the breakdown. Conceded a breakdown penalty, which led to Prendergast extending Leinster’s lead to 22 points in the 32nd minute. Showed good leadership in difficult circumstances.

5 Ruan Nortje – 6
Decent in the line-outs and was a tackling machine with the most in the match (24). Showed leadership and took control when line-outs started to misfire and changed things up.

4 Ruan Vermaak – 2
Failed to impose his physical self and was outshone by his opposite number, Joe McCarthy. Lost the ball outside his own 22, ultimately leading to Leinster’s fourth try. Conceded a penalty against the run of play two minutes later.

3 Francois Klopper – 6
Did his primary roles well, but much like Steenekamp, he didn’t always get the reward front for his scrum dominance.

2 Johan Grobbelaar – 4
Got isolated on attack in Leinster’s red zone and conceded the penalty for holding on. Missed three line-outs, which disrupted the Bulls’ momentum. Won two turnovers as well.

1 Gerhard Steenekamp – 5
Strong in the scrums, but didn’t always get the reward for his dominance. Otherwise, endured a quiet Final.

Continues below…

Replacements:

16 Marco van Staden (Replaced Elrich Louw in the 53rd minute) – 4
Didn’t make much difference when he came on at a difficult period in the match.

17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Replaced Gerhard Steenekamp in the 53rd minute) – 5
Made an immediate impact in the first scrum in tandem with Wilco Louw. Gave a neat offload to captain Nortje to score the Bulls’ second try, which was disallowed due to the previous offload by Moodie being ruled forward.

18 Wilco Louw -(Replaced Francois Klopper in the 53rd minute) – 6
Showed his dominance in his first scrum of the game moments after coming on and remained solid for the rest of the match at set-piece.

19 Cobus Wiese (Replaced Ruan Vermaak in the 53rd minute) – 6
Made 11 tackles, including one dominant tackle in a short space of time, but otherwise didn’t make much difference to the Bulls’ cause.

20 Jeandre Rudolph (Replaced Cameron Hanekom in the 53rd minute) – 5
Like Wiese showed up defensively with eight tackles, including one dominant one. Couldn’t impose his game otherwise, which we saw throughout the season.

21 Zak Burger – (On for Embrose Papier in the 68th minute) – N/A
Not enough time to be rated

22 Stedman Gans (On for Harold Vorster in the 60th minute) – 6
Brought new energy to a losing cause, imposed himself into the contest to the best of his ability, but without much reward.

23 Nizaam Carr (On for Johann Grobbelaar in the 71st minute) – N/A
Not enough time to be rated.