The Vodacom Bulls picked up their 4th victory of the Super Rugby season as they beat the Crusaders 31 / 19 in an entertaining game at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Fans and viewers were treated to a wonderful game to round off the weekend as the Bulls got the better of their Kiwi opponents, thus moving above them up to 7th in the overall standings and 2nd in the South African Conference, only 1 point behind the Cell C Sharks but with a game in hand compared to them.
In a week where the Bulls lost their best workhorse in Lappies Labuschagne, and lost 2 Springboks in Jan Serfontein (hip) and Arno Botha (hamstring) before kick-off, it wouldn’t be untoward to expect them to be under an immense amount of pressure.
But the 2 players who came in at the 11th hour – midfielder Burger Odendaal and flank Hanro Liebenberg – stepped up to make an indelible impression that they not only belong at this level, but have a number of big games in their future with the way they played.
It was a thrilling 1st half in Pretoria as the Bulls showed their intent to keep the ball in hand, which paid off after 3 minutes when wing Francois Hougaard finished off in the corner. Handré Pollard could not add the extras but it was a hugely positive, fast-paced opening.
The Bulls doubled their advantage 5 minutes later courtesy of debutant inside centre Burger Odendaal, who was a late replacement for Jan Serfontein, finishing off superbly well on the right wing. This time Pollard did land the conversion as suddenly the Bulls were 12 / 0 ahead.
Kieran Read’s men needed some ball and when they got it they looked dangerous themselves, with Israel Dagg in particular slicing through on more than 1 occasion. The net result was the Bulls offending at a ruck, which allowed Dan Carter to slot over 3 points from the tee.
On 19 minutes, Carter further reduced the gap after a strong scrum from his forwards. The score was now 12 / 6 to the men from Pretoria.
But on came more pressure from the Crusaders and when destructive wing Nemani Nadolo barged his way over on the left, suddenly the visitors were 12 / 13 ahead thanks to Carter’s touchline kick. The 7-time champions were loving the open game on the highveld and so were the fans.
Pollard and Carter traded penalties before the interval, with the 2 from the South African meaning it was the Bulls going into halftime 18 / 16 ahead.
That was extended to 21 / 16 on 52 minutes after Pollard coolly slotted a long-range attempt and he was at it again 4 minutes later, with the Springbok demonstrating how deadly he can be off the kicking tee. The Crusaders were now crucially 2 scores behind with an 8-point deficit.
Colin Slade thought he had cut that to what would have been just a point, when he was sent over by Nadolo, but Assistant Referee Marius van der Westhuizen asked Referee Angus Gardner to check the pass. TMO Deon van Blommestein subsequently adjudged the ball went forward in the pass.
The Bulls made them pay as replacement Grant Hattingh raced over from 50 m after intercepting a loose ball, with the result now sealed for the South African franchise, who move above the DHL Stormers in their local conference.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls:
- Tries: Francois Hougaard (1), Burger Odendaal (1), Grant Hattingh (1)
- Conversions: Handré Pollard (2)
- Penalties: Handré Pollard (4)
Crusaders:
- Tries: Nemani Nadolo (1)
- Conversions:Dan Carter (1)
- Penalties: Dan Carter (4)
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (Captain), 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Morné Mellett
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Kieron Fonotia, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Tom Taylor, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (Captain), 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Colin Slade, 23 David Havilli.
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)