Chiefs teach naive Bulls a lesson
The Chiefs recorded a vital 34-20 bonus-point win over the Bulls to cement their place in Super Rugby's play-off zone.
For the Bulls, who were naive in their approach and less than ordinary in their execution, the result almost certainly spells the end of their play-off hopes.
While they still sit in third place, as South African conference leaders, they are likely to be overtaken by the end of the round's fixtures and drop out of the top six.
Despite an impressive and energetic start, which saw the Bulls race into a 15-3 lead inside the opening quarter, the men from Pretoria lost their way.
The Chiefs drew level by half-time and two quickfire Augustine Pulu tries ended the game as a contest.
The Bulls briefly restored hope with a rolling maul that resulted in a try, closing the gap to 20-29.
However, the Chiefs showed their superior skills and tactical nous to rub salt into the festering wounds with a fifth try right on full-time.
The only black mark on an otherwise sublime performance by the Chiefs was that their lack of discipline was again blatantly obvious for all to see – earning their 11th yellow card of the season.
To put that into perspective, the Bulls, who again resisted the off-the-ball niggle, have not conceded a single yellow card this season.
The New Zealanders scored five tries to three, as that second-half brace by Pulu helped them run away with the game.
"It was massive, we had our backs against the wall and we did what we needed to do," said captain Liam Messam after his side bounced back from a defeat last week against competition leaders the Hurricanes.
While that loss ended the Chiefs' hopes of topping the New Zealand conference, victory over the Bulls keeps them firmly in the top six.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies was frustrated at the Bulls' second straight loss on the road.
"We had a good start, but lost a bit of momentum and made too many mistakes," he said.
The Bulls were forced to defend desperately from the start against a Chiefs onslaught that saw Pulu stopped just short of the tryline after five minutes.
Chiefs' rookie pivot Damian McKenzie then spilled the ball in a crunching tackle and Jan Serfontein swooped, outpacing Hosea Gear to score the first try of the match.
Another mistake cost the Chiefs dearly three minutes later, when Worcester-bound Bryce Heem tried to slap a the ball clear of the in-goal area. However, he sent it straight to Bjorn Basson for the Bulls' second five-pointer.
The Chiefs then hit back with two quick tries of their own, the first when Messam bulldozed his way to the line and the second resulting from slick passing that set Heem free on the wing.
The torrid first half ended with the honours even at 15-all and it took Pulu to break the deadlock in the Chiefs, favour 13 minutes after the restart.
After a strong run from McKenzie, Pulu gathered the ball and brushed off two tacklers before scoring.
The same pair created Pulu's second straight from the restart, McKenzie weaving through Bulls defenders and Pulu finishing between the posts.
The Bulls gained a one-man advantage when Chiefs flank Sam Cane was sinbinned, making the most of it with a Pieter Labuschagne try from a driving maul to make it 20-29 with five minutes to go.
But Tim Nanai-Williams sealed the win when he added a fifth for the Chiefs right on the siren after more sterling work in the lead up from McKenzie.
Man of the match: Rudy Paige showed why he is such a valuable asset for the Bulls. Pierre Spies and Deon Stegmann were impressive on defence and at the breakdown. Hosea Gear looked threatening at times, Charlie Ngatai was tactically a masterclass and Damian McKenzie was a constant threat. Michael Leitch was again a brute force, while Liam Messam and Hika Elliot again spoiled their good work with their over-the-top antics – both on and off the ball – which at times bordered on thuggery. However, our award goes to Chiefs scrumhalf Augustine Pulu. Not only was the spark that got the Chiefs the edge, but he scored two crucial tries, through brilliant individualism, when the Bulls thought they were still in the game.
The scorers:
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Messam, Heem, Pulu 2, Nanai-Williams
Cons: McKenzie 3
Pen: McKenzie
For the Bulls:
Tries: Serfontein, Basson, Labuschagne
Con: Pollard
Pen: Pollard
Yellow card: Sam Cane (Chiefs, 69 – repeated infringements, killing the ball)
Teams:
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Hosea Gear, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Bryce Heem, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Johan Bardoul, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Pauliasi Manu, 19 Brian Alainu'uese, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Tim Nanai-Williams.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van de Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Arno Botha, 19 Pieter Labuschagne, 20 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 21 Burger Odendaal, 22 Travis Ismaiel, 23 Werner Kruger.
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Aki Aso (Japan)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
