The Vodacom Bulls put one foot into the Round of 16 of the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday with a dominant performance to score one of their greatest away wins since entering Europe, beating Bristol Beats 31-17 at Ashton Gate.
FULL TIME 🏆 and a phenomenal win for the @Vodacom Bulls 🔥#BackTheBulls@ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/oolQElRyfE
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) January 13, 2024
🎙️The boss shares his thoughts after the bonus point victory in Bristol.
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) January 13, 2024
🐃💙#BRIvBUL #BackTheBulls @Investec @ChampionsCup #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/OW1P4SXzSC
The rout would have been bigger had the Bulls decided to take their points in the first half, turning down shots at goal three times and then saw a 31-7 lead get eaten away when Elrigh Louw cynically dived on a ball in his own 22, earning himself a clear yellow card. In his absence in the last seven minutes Bristol scored twice.
Still, this was an exceptional performance, if only for the Bulls normally poor away record and there were some incredible individual performances by the likes of Celimpilo Gumede, Devon Williams, Harold Vorster, Sebastian de Klerk and Rynhardt Ludwig, to name a few.
Captain Marcell Coetzee was always good value while Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ruan Vermaak and Louw all had good games.
But it was the Bulls front row who deserve all the credit as they demolished Bristol’s scrum to such an extent that the home team had to go down to 13 men when their replacement tighthead was yellow carded after the sixth straight scrum penalty against them.
Gerhard Steenekamp was in top form and the addition of Wilco Louw to the scrum has made the Bulls look formidable, with this scrum performance counting as one of their best in the season.
And all round it was a mixture of power up front and pace to match. There simply wasn’t a way to categorise these Bulls on a day like this as they played both for pleasure and poise, and away from home should have probably scored more.
They were over the line twice in the first half and denied - the second coming from referee Mathieu Raynal and the television match official twisting themselves in knots not to give Ludwig a try after he picked up a chip from Williams and went over.
The referee ruled the ball left his hand backwards, but then it looked by countless replays that he dotted it down. Somehow Raynal saw differently - as he did several times during the game - and said the defender dotted it down, so no try.
It wasn’t the most bizarre decision of the game - that came at the end when Ruan Nortje was clearly pulled back by his jersey to open a hole for Magnus Bradbury to score at the death, yet Raynal said he “saw nothing” in the movement or on the replays.
Either way, happily for the Bulls it didn’t matter as they were the better side throughout, although in the first half they needed to show more rugby maturity when they got on top to put the hammer down.
Despite dominating up front and camping in Bristol’s half, they were penalised three times when they went to the sideline and turned down kickable kicks - twice for lineout obstruction and once for a jackal that went against them.
If they had taken the points, they would have been comfortably 19-7 up at the break and not 10-7 up.
After Johan Goosen’s initial penalty, the flyhalf was yellow carded as he slapped down a ball with Bristol on attack. Yet with 14 men the Bulls scored an incredible try, first punching up the middle several times before a massive wide pass found a flying Sergeal Petersen, who went in despite some poor tackling from Bristol’s back three. With Goosen off the field, David Kriel stroked through a sideline conversion that underlined his versatility once again.
Bristol did hit back though, as some slight of play drew in enough defenders and an inside pass saw Kieron Marmion score.
The second half saw the Bulls take a lot better control, get a lot more direct and start to impose themselves, especially in the scrum.
With Bristol going down to 13 and scrums uncontested, Gumede and Vorster combined to give the Bulls some incredible go forward after the latter’s break and when Wessels took the ball and surged close to the line, new signing Khutha Mchunu was not going to be stopped from taking the offload and scoring his first Bulls try.
With their backs up, the Bulls took control and another counter-attack, again led by Williams, saw him get within metres before Elrigh Louw wrestled his way through bodies and stuck and arm out over the line to score.
Wessels would deliver the knockout blow as he intercepted a pass and ran all of 45 metres to score against the run of play. Bonus point in the bag and the Bulls led 31-7.
Bristol kept fighting and late tries for Gabriel Ibitoye and Bradbury made the scoreline look more respectable. But in the end it didn’t take away from the battering the Bulls gave them.
SCORERS
Bristol Bears - tries : Kieron Marmion, Gabriel Ibitoye, Magnus Bradbury. Conversion: AJ McGinty.
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Sergeal Petersen, Khutha Mchunu, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversions: David Kriel, Johan Goosen (3). Penalty: Goosen.