FULL TIME, BENETTON 15-17 BULLS. Quite an astonishing comeback from the Bulls, who were lacking for much of the night, but cometh the hour and the Bulls stood up and took their chances. A fantastic night of rugby… hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
The Bulls kick the ball into touch after being awarded a penalty in their own half… and the ref blows for full-time and a magnificent escape act from the Bulls!
CONVERSION, BULLS, KRIEL! 15-17! MAGNIFICENT KICK from Kriel, 8m or so in from touch… as he kicked it the ball seemed to be in line with the far post, and from the angle you would expect the right footed kicked to pull the kick… but it holds its line and even glides back slightly and slips through the poles. A brilliant kick… and that could be the match-winner!!! Just one minute on the clock…
TRY, BULLS, VAN DER MERWE! 15-15; No jokes, the Bulls are back in town, drawing level after a great lineout take and drive to the line! That's the Bulls we know!
Bulls drive forward and win a penalty on the 10m line, and they kick for the line and will feed the lineout just short of the 5m line…
The Bulls are bustling through to the Benetton half, they kick into the Benetton 22… but the ball is marked and kicked into touch on the halfway line. Wasted opportunity or the Bulls again.
PENALTY, BENETTON, ALBORNOZ! 15-10; Albornoz slides it beautifully through the posts… and then takes his leave of the pitch after big night of contributions from the kicker.
Bulls feed the scrum in their half, Papier kicks deep, Benetton run back… and the Bulls are penalised AGAIN. Penalty Benetton 15m in from touch and halfway between the 10m and the 22 of the Bulls.
CONVERSION, BULLS, KRIEL! 12-10; Nicely through from 12m to the left of the poles… and just two points in it now!
TRY, BULLS, LUDWIG! 12-8; Lovely play from the lineout, as the Bulls forwards batter the Benetton line before Ludwig bursts over for the first try of the night. That's more like it from the Bulls. Game on!
Bulls awarded two penalties in quick succession, with the second being kicked into touch just short of the Benetton 5m line.
Benetton under a bit of pressure but they kick deep to push play back to the Bulls 22. Benetton win the ball back and run the ball down the line to Odogwu who storms down the line before being brought to ground.
PENALTY, BENETTON, ALBORNOZ! 12-3; No problem from 8m to the left of poles and inside the Bulls 22. Bulls need two scores now as the sand keeps rolling out on this clash…
Benetton kick play into the Bulls half as they press back hard… they run the ball and a little grubber finds Johannes near the corner flag with three Benetton attackers all over him… and the Bulls are blown for a penalty for holding on, and Benetton will look to push a nine point gap.
NO TRY! Unlucky for the Bulls, but that did look like the correct decision. Tough luck with the bounce. The rain starts tumbling down over the players and they scrum on the Benetton 5m line… and again the Bulls are blown and an infringement. They are really making it difficult for themselves tonight.
BRILLIANT BREAK from Johannes, and he chips from the centre of the pitch near the Benetton 22 for Arendse, the ball doesn't bounce quite right and the Springbok World Cup hero does well to try and knock the ball back for his team-mates to gather and power over for the try… the ref blows for a try but asks the TMO to confirm.
Bulls awarded a scum near the halfway line, they run the line left, then bring it back right as they cross the halfway line…
Benetton trying to run the ball but the Bulls push up hard on them, forcing them into error.
MISSED! Johannes' effort slides wide of the poles and the gap remains six…
The Bulls running from short of their 10m line… the sides exchange kicks… GREAT BREAK from the Bulls and Arendse is released past the 10m, he sprints to the 22 where he is hauled down, flicking the ball up to a team-mate in support, but it bounces loose and Benetton jump on it and push back, but they are blown just short of the 10… and the Bulls will go for poles.
BREAKAWAY! Benetton turn possession over, drive forward and Menoncello kicks forward and it rolls into touch 10m inside the Bulls' 10m line. Another wasted opportunity from the Bulls. What's going wrong with them?
Benetton now penalised for taking too long to clear from the back of the maul and the Bulls will feed the scrum between the halfway line and Benetton's 10m.
The Bulls send on a new front row and a couple of other players, and Benetton also have a few replacements. Fresh legs for the final half hour.
The Bulls muscle the ball back and drive forward, a grubber into the 22 earning them a lineout on the 22… but they lose their throw again… and Benetton win a penalty on their 5m line. Once again sloppy from the Bulls in a strong position.
The Bulls regain possession, kick deep, but Benetton run back at them and into the Bulls half…
Bulls penalised and Benetton kick keep and will feed the lineout just short of the Bulls' 22.
KICK-OFF! The second half is underway.
HALF-TIME, BENETTON 9-3 BULLS.
The Bulls find their touch 10m m short of the Benetton 22… they win the lineout and push forward but Benetton hold them up and win a scrum in the middle of the park 5m short of their 10m… they win the scrum and Smith kicks it into touch, and that's half time.
The Bulls win a penalty just short of their 10m after the Benetton backline go up too strong challenging for an up and under.
The Bulls with a good passage of play working into the Benetton half, but they kick back superbly and it's driven play back to the Bulls 22.
PENALTY, BENETTON, ALBORNOZ! 9-3; Slotted with ease with his left foot curling the ball through the poles to push the lead back to six points.
Benetton regain the ball and power forward, a grubber into the 22 is awkwardly knocked out of play by Dyantyi… but the ref calls play back for a Benetton penalty halfway between the 10m and the 22, 15m in from touch.
Benetton power forward at the Bulls near their 10m, drive through a tackle and the pass is laid off… but they are brought to ground and the ball goes forward. Bulls will feed the scrum just in front of their 10m and in front of poles.
Benetton blown for bashing into a Bulls attacker leaping for a high ball… Bulls kick the penalty past the Benetton 10… but Benetton counter and kick play into the Bulls 22…
Silly from the Bulls, going offside in the loose after losing the lineout ball and Benetton have a penalty just inside their half 10m in from touch… they kick for touch but fail to find it and the Bills look to counter…
The Bulls kick into the Benetton half where Gallagher calls the mark and then kick play just past the halfway line.
PENALTY, BULLS, JOHANNES! 6-3; The Bulls' flyhalf nails the kick without a problem.
Benetton blown for an infringement in the scrum and the Bulls will kick for poles… 7m ahead of the 10m and about 15m to the right of the poles. Meat and drink to anyone who owns a pair of kicking boots…
Smith fumbles a high ball from the Bulls, and the visitors will have a scrum 5m ahead of the Benetton 10m line.
Benetton back in possession and running hard past the Bulls 10m line, and they win a scrum 5m from the right touchline and midway between the Bulls' 10m and 22.
Benetton press the Bulls back to the 10m… the Bulls press back and look to power forward from the halfway line.
Bulls win their throw and look to push their ruck to the line… Benetton hold them… Bulls run the line, then then a flip pass to Elrigh Louw storming through but he is blocked by the Benetton wall and drops the ball forward. Scrum Benetton, but promising passage for the Bulls.
Benetton now penalised for holding on the ground, and the Bulls kick from the halfway line into touch about 12m short of the Benetton tryline.
Bulls regain possession and start pressing up, they make it to the halfway line and Papier kicks into the Benetton half, and the sides exchange a couple of kicks.
Bulls penalised again, this time past the Benetton 10m line, so the kick will be aimed at the touchline, as Benetton make ground back into the Bulls half.
The Bull press into the Benetton half but the home side are standing firm.
PENALTY, BENETTON, SMITH! 6-0; The fullback strikes his kick perfectly and it makes it over the crossbar with some space to spare. Six points is the lead.
Bulls penalised again, this time almost on the centre spot… and they will go for poles again!
PENALTY, BENETTON, ALBORNOZ! 3-0; Albornoz slots the kick without fuss and the home side are in the lead.
KICK-OFF! We're underway with the first half… and Benetton have a penalty almost immediately as the Bulls go offside defending just inside their 22. Benetton will go for poles…
Bulls: 1 Alulutho Tshakweni, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 3 Wilco Louw, 4 Cobus Wiese, 5 JF van Heerden, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 8 Elrigh Louw, 9 Embrose Papier, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12 David Kriel, 13 Canan Moodie, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 15 Devon Williams. Replacements:16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.
Benetton: 1 Mirco Spagnolo, 2 Siua Maile, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6. Alessandro Izekor, 7 Michele Lamaro, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 11 Matt Gallagher, 12 Juan Ignacio Brex, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 15 Rhyno Smith. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Enzo Avaca, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga.
In May of this year the Bulls beat Benetton 56-35 at home in their group meeting, and followed that up with a 30-23 win in June in the quarter-final.
Benetton have scored 13 tries in their last five matches, compared to the 17 scored by the Bulls. Benetton are carrying a minus-44 points difference from those five games, while the Bulls have a plus-39 points difference from their last five games.
The Bulls' last two matches have been wins. They beat Edinburgh 22-16 at home, followed by a 47-21 home win over Ulster.
The Bulls are playing like a herd of bulls in a warehouse full of fine China. They have won four of their last five matches, with just one loss in that spread. That loss was a 16-21 home defeat engineered by Glasgow.
Benetton's last two matches saw them lose 42-10 away to Glasgow, followed by a 35-5 home defeat at the hands of Leinster.
Benetton have lost three of their last five games, with one loss and one draw. They have lost their last two matches on the bounce and have gone four matches without a win.
The prospects aren't good for Benetton, who have lost their last five matches to the Bulls. The points average in those five matches has been 44-28 in favour of the Bulls.
The Bulls sit fourth on the league table with 15 points after picking up three wins from their four matches.
Hosts Benetton have played five matches, winning two, losing two and drawing one match for a total of 12 points.
Good evening, and welcome to our live coverage of the United Rugby Championship Round 6 match between Benetton and the Bulls at Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Italy.