By Brenden Nel.
It was ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ in a tale of two halves as the Vodacom Bulls kept up their unbeaten run in this year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship with a 29-19 win over the Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday night.
In one of the more bizarre games of the URC the Bulls were on fire early on, scored four tries to get their bonus point and go up 26-0 after just 23 minutes, but then struggled in the second half as discipline took them down to 13 men, and they ended the game with just 12 on the field after the officials forced them to remove another player for uncontested scrums.
While they were streets ahead of the Ospreys team, who on this performance, have a tough season ahead of them, the Bulls were their own worst enemies as the second half turned into damage control and Irish referee Eoghan Cross started making many of his decisions based more on the partisan howls of the crowd than on the game itself.
Cross and his officials ended off the night on a poor note, as they forced the Bulls to remove an extra player even though Johan Grobbelaar had returned to the field for the final scrum and technically the Bulls could scrum. A lengthy to and fro with the sideline officials caused much confusion with the Bulls eventually being forced to remove the extra player against their will.
Kriel Card
It was a poor advert for the game and certainly one that will be quoted by those in favour of World Rugby’s decision to make red cards only a 20 minute sanction in new law trials.
Because the game came apart at the seams when David Kriel was red carded for a fend that Cross initially ruled legal, and then with the help of the big screen at the crowd and hometown crowds baying for blood changed his mind and sent Kriel packing for the night.
While Kriel did lead with the forearm, there were definitely mitigating circumstances, and it seemed to be more a fend than a strike with the forearm. Nevertheless, Cross decided he struck the Ospreys scrumhalf in the neck with his elbow and gave Kriel his first red card of his Bulls career.
Two minutes later he ruled an attempted intercept by Elrigh Louw was legal, and then after crowd howls and another replay, changed his mind and yellow carded Louw, taking the Bulls down to 13.
Despite all of this the Bulls held out, letting the Ospreys cross their line just once, but then a clash of heads, which was accidental, was also given a yellow for reserve prop Alutlutho Tshakweni, who was dispatched for the last nine minutes.
With him off, the referee insisted a player leave so the Bulls could scrum, but with loosehead Gerhard Steenekamp off the field, the Bulls sent Grobbelaar back on, and then Cross determined another player had to leave, to the confusion of everyone both at the ground and on television.
It all left a bad taste in the mouth as the Bulls held out thanks to two incredible turnovers by reserve Cameron Hanekom, who played a starring role in his short time on the field against the odds.
Incredible first half
And it took away from the incredible first half that saw the Bulls score four tries and then have a fifth denied, even though a similar try was given in the game before. Marcell Coetzee appeared to lose the ball, but there was no separation in the action, and Cross ruled he had lost it and no try, yet two hours earlier Darcy Graham had a similar incident and was ruled a try by the officials, even though it seemed he had lost the ball as well.
The Bulls, in the end, still left Swansea with five points in the bag as their first quarter efforts made all the difference in the end.
Their first try came just a few minutes in as the first Ospreys attack saw a dropped pass kicked through by Sebastian de Klerk, who collected and popped the ball to Canan Moodie. The midfielder was stopped a few metres on, but the recycled ball was handed to Louw who ran through untouched for the first try of the game.
The second looked way too easy as some static attack saw Moodie ghost through the rush defence, sending the ball out wide for Kurt-Lee Arendse to go in at the corner.
Best Try
The best try of the night though, came from scrumhalf Embrose Papier, who took the ball from a lineout, spotted a gap and glided in and out to beat the defence for a superb solo try.
Kriel was held up over the line in the 21st minute, but it didn’t matter as the Bulls won back the next up and under and Willie le Roux sent the perfect cross-kick for Arendse to pounce on and score in the corner, giving the Bulls their bonus point.
Dewi Lake scored late in the first half from a lineout drive, but other than that, Ospreys had little to offer on attack. Until, that is, the numbers were very lopsided and a brave Bulls defence couldn’t keep them out.
Coach Jake White will take some happiness out of the fact that the job was done and five points are in the bag, despite the sour taste the game left for his team as they left the stadium. And he will be joyful over the fact that even with 12 men, the Bulls repelled Ospreys hopes for a losing bonus point.
Both against Ulster and this weekend under extreme pressure, this has been a positive for a side that gave away too many bonus points last season.
And that will be the talking point of the second half, and the positives to take as the Bulls move forward.
Scorers
Ospreys – tries: Dewi Lake, Ryan Conbeer, Morgan Morris. Conversions: Jack Walsh (2).
Vodacom Bulls – tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Elrigh Louw, Embrose Papier. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3). Penalty: Chamberlain.