By Brenden Nel
The Vodacom Bulls weren’t given a chance, but pulled off a spectacular display of bravery and determination to cause the biggest upset of the inaugural Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they downed giants Leinster 27-26 in Dublin on Friday night.
The Bulls simply outworked and outmuscled the Leinster side, took their chances when it mattered and had enough guts to become the first South African franchise to win in Ireland this season.
The defeat to La Rochelle was a seismic movement in European rugby. But in terms of a new competition that struggled through Covid disruptions and travel bans to find its feet, this was off the richter scale.
For once, at the RDS Stadium where so many had failed over the years, the Bulls outworked their opponents. For whatever Leinster threw at them – and they did throw everything at them – there was no retreat. There was no going backwards and unlike Glasgow Warriors last week at the same venue, there was no surrender.
And where so many teams had fallen for Leinster’s brand of swamp and conquer, the Bulls held out.
The victory is on par with those massive wins more than a decade ago. Leinster are the benchmark – especially in the URC and definitely in Europe. While this win was built on bravery and determination, it also showed that South African sides have nothing to fear in entering the Champions’ Cup next season. When they get it right they can beat the best.
There were so many heroes on a night of glory. From the workhorses in Ruan Nortje, Arno Botha and Walt Steenkamp to the mercurial Johan Grobbelaar, who played himself into the man of the match role with several turnovers.
At the back, it was Canan Moodie who stood tall under the pressure, and a midfield that was solid against the Ireland test duo.
Playing against a virtual test side, the Bulls played test match rugby and came out on tops.
It was evident early on, even when a kick through was bungled by Moodie and Dan Kriel through the bounce and saw Dan Sheehan burgle a try.
Where so many other sides simply laid down and waited for Leinster’s wrath, the Bulls fought back.
There were 10 phases on their own line that they held out and won a turnover. They stole two lineout balls during the game on their own line when the pressure was as thick as it could be.
And no matter how close Leinster got. They won the moments that mattered. And in the process recorded the ‘sporting miracle’ that White had spoke about this week.
Even when things went wrong – Moodie losing the ball over the line as he was supposed to score the opening try – they didn’t panic. The penalty that restarted play was a pick and go, but Elrigh Louw switched to Grobbelaar and the hooker found little resistance as he crashed over to score.
The home crowd was stunned shortly afterwards when the Bulls made their way downfield and Marcell Coetzee found space by running directly to score.
Leinster struck back through Robbie Henshaw on the half hour mark through some excellent tactical play, but it was clear the home side weren’t at their best despite keeping the scoreline to three points at the break.
The big shift came early in the second half when the Bulls got their rolling maul going and made metres upfield. One such maul was rumbling towards the tryline but was pulled down by James Hume and referee Andrea Piardi had no option but to award a penalty try.
It would be difficult to stop Leinster for most of the game, as they dominated territory and possession thereafter, and finally they had a perfect lineout, watched Garry Ringrose put a beautiful inside pass in the midfield and Rory O’Loughlin had an easy run-in at the corner.
Johnny Sexton missed the conversion and the five point lead was extended shortly afterwards when Morne Steyn kicked a penalty over in the 76th minute to put the Bulls eight points clear.
And they held out. Under the greatest of pressure, they didn’t let up. And even though Leinster scored through Cian Healy well into injury time to make it look closer than it was, the Bulls defence had won the night for them.
It was a night that they stunned Leinster with a power game and won away from home.
There will be few after that performance that will write them off again in the final.
Scorers
Leinster 26 – tries: Dan Sheehan, Robbie Henshaw, Rory O’Loughlin, Cian Healy. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2), Johnny Sexton.
Vodacom Bulls 27 – penalty try, Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalties: Smith, Morne Steyn.