Bulls claim Super Rugby Unlocked trophy with scratchy win

The Vodacom Bulls confirmed their status as Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked champions with a workmanlike, if less than impressive 21-5 win over the Phakisa Pumas at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

While the home side were looking to find a bonus point to carry over into the Currie Cup series, their afternoon turned out to be one of frustration in the wet as the game degenerated into a series of penalties and errors.

The Bulls first half was all they needed to seal the game, although some of the officiating was partly to blame for the game’s inability to get going, especially as players were allowed to get away with off-the-ball niggles and despite being heavily penalised, the lack of cards made the match frustrating to watch from the outside.

For instance, the Pumas had 10 penalties against them in the first half, more than half in their red zone, yet never got a warning or the threat of a card and the Bulls had a similar stat in the second half as the momentum of the game swung very much the other way, and never received a warning for repeated infringements either.

The leniency never had an effect on the result, but rather on the flow of a game where both sides genuinely seemed to want to play.

Still, the first half sealed the game for the Bulls, although Jake White would have been frustrated with his team’s inability to get the important bonus point.

And after winning every single second half this season, the Bulls were unable to score in the second half as they edged towards the title.

Still, the first half dominance showed why the Bulls side are champions, and they scored three unanswered tries in 40 minutes where they easily could have had a few more.

The first came from Kurt-Lee Arendse, who after some bludgeoning up front, chose a beautiful short line to score.

Chris Smith added his name to the scoresheet with some hard, straight running close to the line and Ivan van Zyl added the third by darting around the ruck and finding the defence wanting, stretching over to score.

The Pumas got their reward on the back of several penalties that saw HP van Schoor score from a rolling maul. But the best part of this game was that when the final whistle went, it was over.

And the Bulls were able to claim a trophy that Loftus Versfeld hasn’t seen in over a decade.

SCORERS

BULLS – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl. Conversions: Smith (3).

PUMAS – Tries: HP van Schoor.