Bulls trample hapless Zebre after slow start
URC MATCH REPORT: The Bulls overcame a slow start to record a commanding (45-7) bonus-point win over a hapless Zebre team in Parma on Friday.
It saw the Bulls move to within striking distance of the top eight and a potential spot in Europe next season.
Zebre, who scored the opening points of the match, has now gone more than a year without a win in any competition.
The Bulls had their moments early on, but were scrappy, at best, in the first hour and simply not clinical enough.
The set pieces were also malfunctioning on both sides.
However, once the game was safe, the passes started to stick and Bulls looked as marauding as the statistics of possession (almost 70 percent) and territory (almost 80 percent) suggested.
* Did you miss the action? To recap the drama, CLICK HERE!
🦓 Antonio Rizzi’s magic leads @ZebreRugby to score the opening try 🔥#URC | #ZEBvBUL pic.twitter.com/z8uD6Vv3tv
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 25, 2022
Despite dominating possession and having 75 percent of the territory in the opening quarter, it was Zebra flyhalf Antonio Rizzi who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute – exposing the Bulls defence after captain Marcell Coetzee was yellow-carded for a collision in the air.
The Bulls replied with a Chris Smith penalty on the half-hour mark.
Now charged up, the Bulls took the lead – hooker Johan Grobbelaar forcing his way over from a powerful maul. Smith made it 10-7 with the conversion.
Papier scored soon afterwards, as fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse was the playmaker for the rampaging Bulls. Smith made it 17-7.
Continuing to dominate possession and territory, the Bulls took that 10-point loss in the half-time break.
Coetzee went from villain to hero when he scored the Bulls’ third try, finishing off a series of forward charges as the visitors pinned their hosts inside their own 22-metre area. The Smith conversion made it 24-7.
The Bulls pack also set up the bonus-point try, Arno Botha finishing off another series of brutal raids. Smith slotted the conversion – 31-7.
Further tries by Lionel Mapoe and Kurt-Lee Arendse added to the rout – 45-7.
🇿🇦 @BlueBullsRugby‘s power is simply unstoppable 💥#URC | #ZEBvBUL pic.twitter.com/Q9vf4D8fY8
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 25, 2022
The scorers
For Zebre
Try: Rizzi
Con: Rizzi
For the Bulls
Tries: Grobbelaar, Papier, Coetzee, Botha, Mapoe, Arendse
Cons: Smith 6
Pen: Smith
Yellow card: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls, 22 – foul play, playing an opponent in the air)
Teams
Zebre: 15 Junior Laloifi, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Timothy O’Malley, 11 Asaeli Tuivuaka, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Maxime Mbandà, 5 Liam Mitchell, 4 Potu Junior Leavasa, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Oliviero Fabiani (captain), 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Gabriele Venditti, 20 Luca Andreani, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Enrico Lucchin, 23 Giulio Bisegni.
Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Ruan Mostert, 23 Canan Moodie.
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Federico Boraso (Italy), Dario Merli (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
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