Glasgow left shell-shocked as Bulls steal victory in URC semifinal drama

MATCH REPORT: A momentous comeback by the Bulls saw them book their place in the United Rugby Championship Grand Final with a 22-21 victory over Glasgow at Murrayfield on Saturday.

From a poor first half performance to a sterling, near faultless second half display, the men from Pretoria scraped back from 3-21 down to stun the Scottish side.

The Bulls had a nervous start after Harold Vorster lost the ball from a line-out move. And from the first scrum, they fumbled again.

After some helter-skelter stuff from both sides, the Bulls won a penalty in front of the uprights. Handre Pollard slammed it through for the first points of the semifinal.

Glasgow showed they wanted to play, going through phase after phase as they edged into the Bulls’ 22 amid the singing of the Murrayfield fans.

When Pollard won himself a yellow for a slap down, it was the last thing the visitors had anticipated.

After a good scoring opportunity for Glasgow, which the Bulls negated, a clearance kick by Embrose Papier couldn’t find the touchline, sending the homeside into attack mode once again.

Eventually, Willie le Roux managed to clear, but it was evident that the Bulls were backpaddling and holding on not to concede any points while they were 14 men.

It was a question of time before Glasgow turned their superior possession into points, and they did just that in the 15th minute as captain Kyle Steyn went over in the corner.

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They had won a throw-in in the Bulls’ 22m after a great kick from Jamie Dobie. The throw was good and they worked it out to the right, where Steyn was flying.

They were making the man advantage count. Dan Lancaster converted to take the lead by 7-3.

Minutes later, it was that man Steyn again, scoring their second in ten minutes in the absence of Pollard after Sione Tuipulotu clinically put Steyn in on the right.

There were just superior out wide while the Bulls were scrambling.

Up to this point, the Bulls had sparingly little ball in hand.

Glasgow were stretching the Bulls defence across the field while shifting their attack from side to side, which more often than not left a gaping hole in the visitors’ defence.

As the Bulls’ game plan was falling apart, Ruan Nortje got his side’s second yellow as a storming Glasgow pack won a penalty try.

Nothing was working for the Bulls, even as they were on the attack and seemed to be en route to score, losing the ball once more in contact.

After 30 minutes, the Bulls managed to grind their way into Glasgow’s red zone and won a penalty.

They opted to tap and go and won another penalty a few moves later.

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It was copy and paste, and this time they managed to get over as it looked like Marcell Coetzee got the ball down. The TMO reported that the ball was lost over the line.

They went once more. One after the other forwards tried to drive over, and eventually it was Johan Grobbelaar who managed to ground the ball.

Pollard converted to close the gap somewhat to 10-21.

Bulls coach Johan Ackermann would not have been a happy man in the shed at halftime. His side’s midfield defence was nowhere

The Bulls opted to send Stedman Gans on after halftime, replacing Canan Moodie, possibly to sort out their midfield defence.

It worked well as they managed to keep possession and get over the advantage line. In the process, Glasgow’s Scott Cummings got his marching orders for cynical play.

They were driving, and four minutes into the second half, Papier snipes over from close range. That was a momentum swinger.

Pollard missed the conversion kick, and it was a six-minute game.

The Bulls were playing the territorial game as they found a good touch finder close to Glasgow’s 22m area. Glasgow now had some rare ball possession in the second half, close to the halfway line.

After some end-to-end play from both sides, Glasgow had a line-out close to their own 22m area.

Cameron Hanekom ran straight at the line, but he was short. But the try was scored, and it was Francois Klopper who dotted down under the posts.

Pollard added the extras for the Bulls to take the lead 22-21. It was a different Bulls team that came out of the changeroom.

Just as the Warriors ruthlessly exploited Pollard’s yellow card in the first half, the Bulls took full advantage of Cumming’s spell in the sin bin.

From an attacking scrum close to Glasgow’s 10m line for the Bulls, they nearly managed to scale the wall, but the Warriors managed to kick for clearance.

After an hour of play, Springbok prop Wilco Louw took to the field.

End-to-end play saw Kurt-Lee Arendse turned the ball over, earning his side a penalty close to the halfway line, but Pollard’s kick once again was not on target.

The Bulls’ confidence had soared. Canan Moodie turned over possession in midfield and offered Pollard another goal attempt, but he hit the uprights.

With eight minutes to go, the Bulls won a massive scrum penalty, and the moral boost was evident.

Could Pollard finally sink one? It was a pressure kick, and he missed it again. Three in a row.

Glasgow threw everything at the Bulls in the last four minutes, trying to get through from every angle.

The Bulls won a penalty with one minute left on the clock after a monster tackle by Gans.

The time on the clock was in the red. Nizaam Carr took the lineout ball and Grobbelaar sent it flying into the stands to book their place in the Grand Final.

Player of the Match: Kyle Steyn came close with his two tries, but Embrose Papier’s try swung the momentum and our vote goes to the Bulls scrumhalf. His box kicks were spot on, and he had no blemishes on his report card.

For Glasgow:
Tries: Steyn 2, Penalty Try
Cons: Lancaster 2

For Bulls:
Tries: Grobbelaar, Papier, Klopper
Cons: Pollard 2
Pens: Pollard

Yellow cards: Handre Pollard (for Bulls – 8’ for knock down); Ruan Nortje (for Bulls – 24’ collapsing the maul); Scott Cummings (for Glasgow – 43’ cynical)

Teams

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne), 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Samuel, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Jeandre Rudolph, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Nizaam Carr.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)