Hendricks hat-trick seals Bulls' best win overseas

Springbok midfielder Cornal Hendricks sliced the Ospreys defence open three times to score a hat-trick of tries as the Bulls produced close to their best overseas performance to beat the Welsh side 38-31 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Swansea on Friday night.

Hendricks’s hat-trick and the Bulls' forward dominance laid the platform for a solid win, although two late tries gave the Ospreys some respectability in the scoreline and a chance to win the Welsh shield and claim a spot in Europe.

But despite the late tries - one of which was a bit dubious in terms of off-side - and the other an intercept that got the Welsh commentators so excited one would have been excused for thinking they had won the URC outright - the Bulls produced a memorable performance that included six tries and possibly their best win since heading to Europe.

In fact, given some of the decisions that didn’t go their way, they could have won by more and the ease at times that they cut open the Ospreys defence doesn’t bode well for the Welsh when they do eventually get to Europe.

Still, it leaves some interesting permutations for the weekend’s remaining fixtures as the Bulls went past the Sharks, who lost in Belfast and now will have to wait for the Stormers game against Scarlets to see who wins the SA Shield.

There is no doubt the Stormers are still favourites and if they win will take the conference and a home playoff spot but the Bulls' win moved them into third, one point behind Ulster who ended the Sharks’ hopes of a home playoff game.

The problem for both the Sharks and Bulls is that if Munster beat Leinster on Saturday, then the hopes of two South African home games go out the window and only one is likely.

Still, there was enough good about the Bulls' win to never write them off, especially given their patchy performances overseas in the past.

They started off exceptionally well, basing their game on forward dominance and even scrum dominance - the latter which was hardly rewarded by the referee despite some clear and obvious pressure that the Ospreys weren’t handling well.

It didn’t take long for the forwards to punch up twice and then send the ball wide for Madosh Tambwe to go over untouched for the first try.

BIZARRE TRY

Another forward surge was sent down the backline and Chris Smith jigged inside to beat the cross defence and make it 12-0.

The Ospreys found their rhythm and Jac Morgan forced his way over from close range while a conversion and penalty from Gareth Anscombe made it 12-10 at the break.

The Bulls though were hardly going to let themselves fall into the trap that they did earlier this season overseas, and found their mojo quickly in the second half, mainly when Hendricks took control.

The sidestepping centre made a mockery of the Ospreys defence, first making a clean break for Canan Moodie to go over untouched and then adding a try of his own shortly afterwards.

While there was moments of Welsh resistance, his second was a carbon copy of the first, coming from a lineout and a clean break that made you wonder where the defence was.

The third - much to the disgust of the commentators - was a wonderful finish in the corner which saw him just stay in for the try, and it sealed a perfect performance for the Bulls.

The Ospreys came back in the latter stages of the game, with Luke Morgan scoring twice and Sam Parry getting a bizarre try at the back of a ruck where he looked offside and placed a hand on the ball as Embrose Papier was taking it out the back of the scrum. It didn’t matter and the try was given, although it certainly will create some debate about the legality of the try.

Either way the late scoreline was celebrated because it pushed the Ospreys above the Scarlets in their Welsh shield, even though neither side will make the playoffs, one is guaranteed by virtue of the competition structure, a place in Europe.

The Bulls will wait now for the results of Munster-Leinster and the Stormers game on Saturday and while their heroics will be celebrated on the night, they will know that they are likely to be overtaken by the Stormers, and depending on what Munster do, may not have done enough to secure the home playoff.

But on the night they were glorious and dominant, and that counts for something. How the log reads after other results may make them feel different, but it certainly won’t take away from what is arguably their best performance thus far in Europe.

SCORERS

Ospreys 31 - tries: Jac Morgan, Luke Morgan(2), Sam Parry. Conversions: Gareth Anscombe (4). Penalty: Anscombe.

Vodacom Bulls 38 - tries: Cornal Hendricks (3), Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Canan Moodie. Conversions: Smith (4).