Bulls hold off Leinster in Loftus thriller
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls were made to sweat for their 39-31 bonus-point victory over Leinster in their United Rugby Championship Round Two clash in Pretoria on Saturday.
Johan Ackermann’s side scored seven tries in the win, but big lapses in concentration allowed Leinster to stay in touch throughout the match.
The Bulls also had a 12-point lead at half-time before the visitors staged their fightback.
The Bulls ran Leinster ragged in the opening minutes, and wing Sebastian de Klerk scored the first try in the fourth minute when he collected the ball after a perfectly timed cross-kick from Keegan Johannes before diving over the tryline.
A few minutes later, some poor defence from the visitors saw De Klerk slice through the midfield before feeding the ball to David Kriel, who sprinted in for the second five-pointer.
Leinster finally recorded their first points of the season when Sam Prendergast converted a penalty into three points in the 20th minute.
However, they were reduced to 14 men in the 22nd minute after Will Connors was pinged for a head-on-head tackle.
Despite being a man down, Leinster scored the next try when Thomas Clarkson crashed over the Bulls’ tryline in the 30th minute.
Johannes made it a five-point lead for the Bulls with a penalty goal a few minutes later.
And it got even better for the home side just before the break when Mpilo Gumede scored his team’s third try after sustained pressure.
However, Leinster stayed in the fight and after swift hands in the backline, Hugh Cooney eased in for his team’s second try in the 44th minute.
A couple of minutes later, they launched a multiple-phase attack from their own half, which ended with Tommy O’Brien scoring a try.
Prendergast nailed his third conversion to give Leinster a two-point lead in the 47th minute.
Momentum was firmly on Leinster’s side after that, but the Bulls scored next when Willie le Roux rolled back the years to sprint away for his team’s bonus-point try after he was put into space by Devon Williams.
The visitors composed themselves after that and, using their forward dominance, Scott Penny powered over for his team’s fourth try after multiple phases.
Things were opening up big time, and Le Roux used his experience to find Stravino Jacobs with a cross-kick, with the wing scoring an easy try.
The Bulls eventually put the game to bed when Kriel scored a late intercept try, which he also converted.
The scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: De Klerk, Kriel 2, Gumede, Le Roux, Jacobs
Cons: Johannes 2, Kriel
Pen: Johannes
For Leinster:
Tries: Clarkson, Cooney, T O’Brien, Penny
Cons: Prendergast 4
Pen: Prendergast
Yellow card: Will Connors (Leinster, 22′ – foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Juann Else, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Willie le Roux.
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath (captain), 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Alex Soroka, 5 Ryan Baird, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Paddy McCarthy.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 James Culhane, 22 Fintan Gunne, 23 Ciarán Frawley.
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Miller (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Photo credit: Anton Geyser Media
