Bulls hang on to pip Connacht in Galway nail-biter

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls returned to winning ways in the United Rugby Championship after they recorded a nail-biting 28-27 victory over Connacht in Galway on Friday.

There was plenty of drama in the Round Four encounter with Connacht outscoring the visitors by four tries to three.

Their final try, which was scored by Mack Hansen in the 79th minute, could have been the match-winner, but replacement Sean Naughton could not add the conversion despite having two attempts due to the Bulls’ early charge for the first.

Wing Sebastian de Klerk was the star of the show for the visitors. He had a big hand in all of his team’s tries.

It was a bright start for the home side, and after sustained pressure inside the Bulls’ 22, flyhalf Josh Ioane sliced through the defence to score the opening try in the 10th minute.

However, not long after that, Connacht’s lead was cut to two points when De Klerk sprinted through acres of space before feeding the ball to Paul de Wet, who ran in for a try in the 13th minute.

Keagan Johannes missed the conversion.

Connacht suffered a blow in the 19th minute when Josh Murphy received a 20-minute red card for striking Jan-Hendrik Wessels on the ground. Seán O’Brien eventually took Murphy’s spot later in the half.

The Bulls made an immediate response with Willie le Roux finishing off a counterattacking move to score his team’s second try in the 20th minute.

It was a comfortable start to the second half for the Bulls, and they managed to push their lead to eight points in the 43rd minute with a drop goal from Johannes.

However, Connacht bounced back with some silky passing, and it resulted in a try for Caolin Blade in the 45th minute. Ioane made it a one-point game with the conversion.

There was a bit of deja vu in the 54th minute when De Klerk was put into space again before he fed an inside ball to De Wet, who ran in for his second try.

Johannes extended his team’s lead to 11 points with a penalty goal in the 63rd minute.

However, the home side stayed in the fight after the Bulls failed to deal with a loose ball in their 22 and, after some footballing skills, Naughton dotted the ball down for his team’s third try.

Just when the pressure was building for the Bulls, Johannes landed a brilliant long-range penalty goal in the 72nd minute to push his team’s lead to nine points.

Naughton responded with a long-range effort of his own in the 74th minute to bring the game within six points again.

Connacht went all out to get another score, and after sustained pressure and multiple phases inside the Bulls’ 22, Hansen dived over in the corner for a try in the 79th minute.

There was some drama when Naughton had two conversion attempts to win the game. His first attempt went wide, but there was an early charge from the Bulls players and he was allowed to get another shot.

However, he could not find the direction with his second attempt as the Bulls hung on for the win.

Man of the match: The award goes to Bulls wing Sebastian de Klerk, who was devastating with ball in hand out wide. He produced excellent runs in the build-up to all of his team’s tries, and that included the final passes as well.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Tries: Ioane, Blade, Naughton, Hansen
Cons: Ioane 2
Pen: Naughton

For Bulls:
Tries: De Wet 2, Le Roux
Cons: Johannes 2
Pens: Johannes 2
DG: Johannes

Red card: Josh Murphy (Connacht, 19′ – foul play, striking an opponent)

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Byron Ralson, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Cathal Forde.

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 JJ Theron, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Stravino Jacobs.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Jack MacNeice (Ireland)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)