The Vodacom Bulls were given a real scare by Welsh side Scarlets, before using their bench to power their way home for a comprehensive 54-26 win in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Bulls racked up an early 19-0 lead, allowing Scarlets to come back on either side of halftime to draw level at 26-all, riding their luck through this middle stanza before putting on their bench and powering their way home by totally dominating the last 20 minutes.
Regular captain Marcell Coetzee and new winger Dylan Maart both scored a brace of tries as the Bulls ran in eight tries to four in a highly competitive contest.
But while the Bulls will now go into the November break in a healthy position, in second spot on the URC log and with four wins out of five, they know tougher times are coming, and they will need to shore up their inability to put opposition away early, and their own dip in form between the half-hour mark and the 50th minute, which happens all too often.
This time around it came as a result of a trip by Stedman Gans which cost his side a yellow card - although to be fair it seemed a bit harsh for something that seemed like it was more a reaction than intended and where a penalty would have sufficed.
The Bulls also struggled for large parts of the game with Scarlets negative tactics on defence, flooding the breakdown and tugging jerseys, holding players back and the forever afters, which tended to sidetrack them more than their coaching side would like.
MORE THAN A HANDFUL
But to be fair to the Welsh side, when they had the ball on attack, they were more than a handful, and provided some sparkling attacking moments to prove they aren’t the easy beats of previous years. If they carry on in this vein, they will give several sides a lot of headaches as the season goes on.
The Bulls, however, needed to learn how and when to mix up their power and pace, and at times were guilty of overplaying and allowing the Scarlets to distract them with off-ball tactics, with the stop-start nature of the game hardly helping.
While cult hero Jeandre Rudolph was a clear favourite to win man of the match again, the first half surge was on the back of veteran Willie le Roux, who controlled the attack like a maestro, and threaded the ball to make the Bulls look dangerous.
The second half belonged to the forwards, with Coetzee, Hanro Liebenberg, Cameron Hanekom, JF van Heerden and Alulutho Tshakweni all putting in strong performances.
A word must also be reserved for Curwin Bosch, who has slotted in exceptionally into the Bulls side, and while there may have been some who have doubted his talent based on his past, surely they will also acknowledge he has been nothing short of solid and impressive since arriving at Loftus.
LE ROUX’S CONTRIBUTION PRICELESS
The Bulls used him and Le Roux well, with Bosch’s big boot a massive contributor to keeping the Bulls out of trouble at times. If life is all about second chances, then Bosch may have found the place to get his - as Rudolph will testify.
While Gans’ yellow was costly - Scarlets scored twice in his absence - the Bulls lineout faltered more than once, and their kickoff receipts were particularly poor, providing the opposition with good attacking ball when they had just conceded.
But they now have a month to work on that, as well as perfecting their fast starts, which also put the Scarlets on the back foot early on.
There wasn’t an early try, but the Bulls had scored as early as the 10th minute, when they pounded the Scarlets line, and Rudolph weaved his way through a small space close to the line to score.
Van Heerden then pulled off a perfect save, stopping Scarlets scrumhalf Gareth Davies with a brilliant tackle on his own line when a try looked certain, holding him up in the process.
Le Roux’s magic was apparent as he ran in a try of his own and then the Bulls scored next from their own 22, starting with a perfect kick pass to Stravino Jacobs, who interlocked with Gans to take it upfield. Le Roux got the recycled ball and ran sideways, drawing defenders before letting the ball go down the backline for Maart to score in the corner.
Its simplicity in execution was its beauty, and anyone doubting how much Le Roux still has to offer the Bulls needs their head read.
KICK-OFF RECEIPTS COSTLY
But from the kick-off, the Bulls conceded possession and Scarlets worked it up rather too easily until John McKee went over in the corner for their first score.
Scarlets scored again when Tom Allen went through an easy midfield gap, and Sam Lousi reached over the line, injuring himself in the process.
But at 19-12, the Bulls would have been smarting that they gave up the lead so easily.
Things could have gotten worse in the second half as Davies scored again - only to have it notched off because he was in front of the chip kick ahead by his winger.
The appearance of Coetzee on the field certainly changed things. From the resulting penalty from Davies’ transgression, Bosch sent the ball to the corner, and the lineout maul came close, with Coetzee burgling his way over the line from a short distance.
But then came the trip, and Gans’ disappearance off the field saw Scarlets find more space, starting with Archie Hughes finding space to go in at the corner and then Joe Roberts following that up three minutes later to level the scores.
Suddenly the Bulls were in trouble, Scarlets were level and there was some concern.
BENCH SHORED THINGS UP
The bench arrived, and with the new front row, a different outlook as Gerhard Steenekamp and Francois Klopper won several penalties off scrums.
Now on the front foot, the Bulls seemed rejuvenated, and hit Scarlets with a double-try blow that turned the game firmly in their favour.
First it was Coetzee going over after another classy driving maul, and then Paul de Wet delayed his pass to put Sebastian de Klerk through a hole to score untouched in the 63rd minute.
When Johan Grobbelaar went over from close range five minutes later, the only concern was how big the scoreline would be. Maart finished it off with a late try to give the Bulls another 50-pointer, and big smiles after getting the scare early in the second half.
Scorers
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Marcell Coetzee (2), Dylan Maart (2), Jeandre Rudolph, Sebastian de Klerk, Johan Grobbelaar, Willie le Roux. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (7)
Scarlets - tries: John McKee, Sam Lousi, Archie Hughes, Joe Roberts. Conversions: Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (3)