Another red card for Bulls as Scarlets edge Llanelli showdown

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls suffered their first defeat in this season’s United Rugby Championship after they went down 22-23 to the Scarlets in Llanelli on Friday.

For the second week in a row, the team from Pretoria had a player sent off in the second half.

This time it was Johan Grobbelaar for a high tackle in the 67th minute.

Last weekend against the Ospreys, David Kriel received a red card for a hand-off, but it was rescinded after his disciplinary hearing.

Grobbelaar will now have a hearing of his own in the coming days.

Scarlets wing Tom Rogers scored the match-winning try on Friday with nine minutes left on the clock.

The Bulls had a nine-point lead at half-time in Llanelli, but they struggled to build momentum in the second 40 before they were reduced to 14 men.

It was a great start for the visitors with some slick passing and sharp running lines on attack resulting in a try for centre Canan Moodie in the second minute.

The home side slowly started to build their own momentum after that and after sustained pressure, captain Josh Macleod powered his way over for a try in the 12th minute.

However, the Bulls regained the lead a few minutes later when scrumhalf Zak Burger caught the Scarlets napping on defence near the blindside in the 22 as he raced away for an easy five-pointer.

Some more great backline play was the catalyst for the Bulls’ third try, which Kurt-Lee Arendse scored in the 30th minute.

The Scarlets had the final say in the first half with a Ioan Lloyd penalty and at half-time, it was 19-10 to the Bulls.

The home side then had a perfect start to the second half when Blair Murray powered his way to the Bulls’ tryline in the 42nd minute after some strong carries by his teammates in the build-up.  Lloyd could not add the extras with the conversion, which would’ve reduced the Bulls’ lead to two points.

Instead, that lead became seven points in the 50th minute when Boeta Chamberlain converted a penalty into three points.

The Scarlets stayed in the fight as Lloyd added a three-pointer of his own minutes later.

The home side then received a massive boost in the 67th minute when Grobbelaar received a red card for his high tackle.

Five minutes later the Scarlets found themselves in front when the ball was spread wide to Rogers who weaved his way through several Bulls defenders to score his team’s third try.

That proved to be enough as the home side held on for a memorable victory.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Macloed, Murray, Rogers
Con: Lloyd
Pens: Lloyd 2

For Bulls:
Tries: Moodie, Burger, Arendse
Cons: Chamberlain 2
Pen: Chamberlain

Red card: Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls, 67′ – foul play, high tackle)

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Eddie James, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Macs Page.

Bulls: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Kuyenzeka Xaba, 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Armand van der Merwe (captain), 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Barend Smit, 23 Stedman Gans.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Nathan James (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)