Bulls deliver stunning late knockout blow

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls produced a powerful second-half display to pull away from the Scarlets and secure a convincing 54-26 victory in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash.

After racing into a 19-0 lead, the Pretoria side looked firmly in control, but the visitors fought their way back into the contest and drew level at 26-26 to set up a tense finish.

However, the Bulls found another gear in the closing stages, using their forward power and attacking firepower to overwhelm the tiring Welsh side. Seven tries in total underlined their dominance as the hosts finished strongly to turn a hard-fought contest into a commanding victory.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested and scrappy, but after eight minutes the Bulls won a lineout in the visitors’ 22 and worked their way to within five metres of the try line.

Jeandre Rudolf barged over as the Bulls converted their entry into the 22, opening their account against the Wesh.

From the kick-off, the turnover king, captain Josh Macleod struck, earning his side a lineout feed in the Bulls’ 22.

Joe Roberts got over the whitewash, but was held up, and it was a goal-line drop-out for Bosch.

They continued their onslaught with another attacking lineout five metres out, but the Bulls won the turnover and Bosch drilled it into touch.

The Bulls broke the advantage line; Cameron Hanekom made metres and Willie le Roux scored out wide.

The Bulls were having it all their way in the scrums and lineouts, putting them on the front foot.

The fullback managed a pinpoint kick pass to find Stravino Jacobs out wide; they went east to west, let the ball do the work and Dylan Maart rounded it off.

Scarlets managed to keep control following the kick-off, and they were over in the corner to open their scoring after the ball went through the hands.

They worked their way back into the match, scoring their second try under the uprights; Leggat-Jones converted, closing the gap to seven points, trailing by 12-19.

Following the Bulls’ three tries, it was all the Scarlets, showing exactly what they did against the Stormers last weekend.

The visitors started the second half strong, building on the momentum they built in the first half.

The Scarlets dinked a kick into space, and the bounce fell kindly into the hands of Ioan Nicholas, who sent an inside pass to Gareth Davies to race over the try line under the posts, but it was scratched.

The referee had another look at the replay and spotted the Scarlets player advancing in front of the kicker as the Bulls breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a cruel passage of play for the Scarlets, who went from almost scoring to defending just metres from their own tryline as the Bulls drove forward with a powerful maul. Marcell Coetzee then broke away from the pack and powered over the line for the try, stretching their lead to 26-12.

Stedman Gans got in trouble for a trip and had to spend ten minutes in the bin with 30 minutes left on the clock.

With the Bulls a man down, there was ample open space on the edges, Scarlets put in a huge shift and got over the advantage line and Archie Hughes got over in the corner.

Leggat-Jones raised the flags to make it a seven-point game.

The Weshman found themselves backtracking from the kick-off, but then they had a player break away with the ball, but then the Bulls won the turnover.

However, the visitors came roaring back, with Roberts scoring their fourth try. The conversion was good and the score was square at 26-26.

The hosts won a quality lineout five metres out, Rudolf powered forward, the forwards surged, and captain Coetzee got up with the ball.

Bosch added the extras and the hosts were in the lead again by 33-26.

A quick pass by Paul de Wet from behind a scrum gave Sebastian de Klerk a straight run to the tryline, scoring their sixth.

Altitude started to take its toll on the Scarlets heading into the last 15 minutes and the Bulls were steamrolling them, resulting in try number seven, this time by Johan Grobbelaar.

In the last quarter, it was all Bulls as the blue wave continued to stack the points, Maart scoring his second try, converted by Bosch.

The Scarlets enjoyed a spell of possession and moved the ball from side to side, but struggled to make any meaningful ground.

The Bulls closed out the match with a solid performance and a convincing 54-26 victory.

Player of the Match: Jeandre Rudolf was a menace from minute one to minute 80, scored a try and had the most carries in the game (15).

The scorers:

For Bulls
Tries: Rudolf, Le Roux, Maart 2, Coetzee 2, De Klerk, Grobbelaar
Cons: Bosch 7

For Scarlets:
Tries: McKee, Lousi, Hughes, Roberts
Cons: Leggat-Jones 3

Yellow card: Stedman Gans (Bulls, 47’, trip)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 6 Jeandre Rudolph, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Alu Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Sebastian de Klerk, 23 Hakeem Kunene.

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Archie Hughes, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Gabe McDonald, 11 Isaac Murray-Macgregor, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Alex Groves, 4 Tom Allen, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 John McKee, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Isaac Young, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Harvey Cuckson, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Jac Davies.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison (South Africa), Dylen November (South Africa)
TMO: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)