Saracens blow Bulls away

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls were outplayed in blustery conditions on their way to a 5-27 defeat to Saracens in London on Saturday.

The big talking point ahead of the match was how the teams would cope as Storm Darragh swept across the United Kingdom and the hosts produced a clinal performance in the Champions Cup clash.

With the strong win behind their backs in the first half, the Bulls could only score one try and they even found themselves 5-8 behind at the break.

In the second half, Saracens provided the Bulls with a lesson in most areas of the game, including on how to play with the wind and they scored three tries to take the game away from the South Africans.

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The Bulls dominated the opening 10 minutes and after sustained pressure inside Saracens’ half, wing Sebastian De Klerk opened the scoring in the 11th minute after gathering the ball from a great pass by Willie le Roux before running in for a five-pointer.

The home side looked dangerous with ball in hand when they entered the Bulls’ half and they should have got their first points in the 18th minute. However, Fergus Burke remarkably found the upright with his penalty from right in front.

However, the constant pressure was a bit too much for the visitors and Marco Riccioni powered over for a try after sustained pressure. This time Burke could not find the direction with his conversion in the strong wind.

Saracens found themselves in front in the 36th minute when Burke finally got the better of the wind to convert a penalty into three points.

At half-time, Saracens were three points ahead on the scoreboard.

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With the wind behind their backs in the second half, Saracens were camping in the Bulls’ half in the opening minutes and they were nearly in when Maro Itoje had an open tryline in front of him. However, Jannes Kirsten managed the free the ball from the England star’s grasp before he went over the tryline.

However, a few minutes later the Bulls were reduced to 13 men when Kirsten was given a yellow card for a head-on-head collision with Rotimi Segun before De Klerk was also sent to the sidelines for his team’s repeated infringements.

After a flurry of cards, Saracens extended their lead when Jamie George found his way to the tryline after a powerful driving maul.

Momentum was clearly with Saracens and they were in again in the 57th minute when a powerful run by Eroni Mawi set up a try for Tom Willis.

Burke had his kicking shoes on in the second half and with the wind behind his back, he slotted two conversions in a row from out wide.

The home side secured the bonus point in the 65th minute when Ben Earl showed great strength to hold off a few Bulls defenders and score in the corner.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Riccioni, George, Willis, Earl
Cons: Burke 2
Pen: Burke

For Bulls:
Try: De Klerk

Yellow cards: Jannes Kirsten (Bulls, 47′ – foul play, head-on-head contact); Sebastian De Klerk (Bulls, 48′ – cynical play, repeated infringements)

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Tom Parton.

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian De Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar (captain), 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 23 Harold Vorster.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Keith David (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)