A monster scrum in the dying moments of the match allowed the Vodacom Bulls to steal a narrow 21-20 win over Irish juggernaut Leinster, ending their unbeaten run in this year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
The scrum that has the best record in the tournament, but the same one that was missing the power of Gerhard Steenekamp this week, produced a shove that will reverberate around the URC as they ran Leinster off the ball and left referee Ben Whitehouse with no other option but to call the penalty after the hooter.
It was an earth-shattering end to the game as midfielder David Kriel stepped up to drive home the penalty to start the celebrations as the Bulls claimed their third straight win over Leinster.
With two seconds on the clock the Vodacom Bulls trailed 18-20 to Leinster.
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 22, 2025
At 84:27, they won the match 21-20 🤯#VURC pic.twitter.com/QK7KjbwyW7
It erased a 77th-minute penalty by Ross Byrne, the forgotten man of Irish rugby, which seemed to have won the match for the visitors, a game that they could rightly claim to have dominated throughout.
But while the celebrations will erase some hard self-reflection on behalf of Bulls fans, it at least keeps up the pressure as the tournament heads towards the playoff phase later in the season.
LOFTUS STRUGGLES
Yet, a cold, hard look at the facts will show how the Bulls seem to have regressed at Loftus, and how they are struggling to be a dominant force on their home ground.
The Bulls' third place on the log is built on away form this year, and on Saturday they will reflect and realise they didn’t play particularly well, eventually going back to their core basics - their strong scrum and maul - to dig them out of the deep hole they were in.
This was, of course, Leinster’s second team - a team strengthened by the likes of RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett - both of whom had stellar games for the Irish side - and they are still missing all 16 Irish internationals that ran out against Italy last weekend.
Leinster are a very well-drilled team and their defence gave the Bulls problems, but the crux of the Bulls' struggles were their own failings - things that have not gotten better this season.
It may be harsh to criticise a team that are third on the log, but going into the playoffs, last season’s finalists will know that those small recurring problems need to be fixed if they are to go one better this season.
Currently there are some massive issues with the team’s lineout - which is becoming a real worry going into the last weeks of regular competition.
They also still seem brittle out wide and handling errors have impacted their attack to such an extent that it cost them not only against the Stormers and Sharks, but almost cost them on Saturday.
It didn’t help that they seemed to get on the wrong side of Ben Whitehouse at times, or that their own indiscipline cost them a yellow and red card during the game.
All of this will need to be addressed, but it is easier to address it from the smiles of a victory than the disappointment of defeat.
RED CARD JUSTIFIED
Sebastian de Klerk’s red card was justified as the winger mistimed his run and went under Andrew Osborne, who landed between shoulder and head.
Nowadays that is a clear red and the Bulls could have no arguments with that decision.
They could have an argument with Alulutho Tshakweni’s yellow card early in the game as he was adjudged to have executed a dangerous grass-cutter tackle.
It never looked that dangerous - more clumsy than anything else on the replay, but nonetheless he spent 10 minutes in the sin bin.
Leinster was so impressive in that first half that it was almost a sigh of relief when the Bulls slotted a 40th-minute penalty to go into the break just 10-6 behind.
Considering Leinster had a try disallowed as well, the Bulls could easily have been out of the game by that point.
Because in a first half where Will Connors and the Leinster pack got themselves on top, the Bulls looked lethargic and struggled to get dominance.
Their attack was stunted by some excellent defence by the Irish side, and they were vulnerable outside.
That’s why, even though they slotted the first penalty through Keagan Johannes, they found themselves behind after a simple mistake became costly as a regulation return kick dropped between Stravino Jacobs and Embrose Papier, bouncing just right for Tommy O’Brien to grab and put his side on the attack.
The flailing Bulls were on the back foot and the recycled ball was sent wide to Barrett, who ran in untouched for the easiest of tries.
The man of the moment 🙌
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) March 22, 2025
Jordie Barrett picks a perfect line and strolls over to give Leinster the lead 🔥@vodacom | #URC | #LEIvBUL pic.twitter.com/gLMO8vtFHF
DISALLOWED TRY
Scott Penny scored after a switch move from a lineout maul but replays showed how Snyman had held back Akker van der Merwe and the try was disallowed.
Leinster put their foot down early in the second half as they drew the defence, then sent the ball wide to Osborne, who went in at the corner, opening up a 17-6 lead.
Fast Hands, Fast Try⚡💪
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) March 22, 2025
A perfect display of teamwork as slick passing from Leinster sets up Andrew Osborne to score against the Bulls!@Vodacoms #URC | #BULvLEI pic.twitter.com/YWyYRufzql
At that stage it looked as if it was all over, but the Bulls wouldn’t give in.
They went back to their basics and their maul started to do damage.
It wasn’t long before they had Leinster on the back foot, with three consecutive big mauls before Tom Clarkson took the maul down one time too many.
Whitehouse had no option but to issue a penalty try and a yellow card.
The maul worked its magic and did more damage, this time Johan Grobbelaar emerging at the back with the try that gave the Bulls the lead.
But De Klerk’s moment of madness gave Leinster a lifeline and Byrne took it shortly afterwards with ease.
The stage was set for the visitors to close it out, but the Bulls had other ideas.
In the end the monster scrum and Kriel’s boot settled it, much to the relief of those at the stadium.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫!
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) March 22, 2025
David Kriel slots a penalty after 84 minutes to win it late for the Vodacom Bulls
Leinster's unbeaten run in the #VURC is over. pic.twitter.com/LnfNRyLY0R
Scorers
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Penalty try, Johan Grobbelaar. Penalties: Keagan Johannes (2), David Kriel.
Leinster - tries: Jordie Barrett, Andrew Osborne. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2). Penalties: Byrne (2).