The Vodacom Bulls gave their all, but in the end came short as Glasgow Warriors won a close contest 25-21 to end South Africa’s participation in the Investec Champions Cup before the start of the quarterfinal stage.
The win at the Scotstoun was more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests and showed a lack of penetration for the Bulls as they were outscored four tries to two and were outplayed for most of the game.
The one thing the Bulls could not be faulted on was guts. With the rain being played in driving rain and horrible conditions with the wind becoming a major factor, may teams would have folded earlier. But to their credit they fought to the end, although it was clear they were never in a position to win the game.
It was a disappointment, because on several occasions they found themselves on attack in the Glasgow 22 metre area, only to have the ball turned over in frustration. Whether a knock on or on two occasions the ball being ripped out of their hands, the Bulls never were able to get the reward for their good play while Glasgow had few problems in bothering the scoreboard when they were close to the line.
That, in essence, was the difference between the two sides as both struggled with the conditions, but Glasgow played them, and the referee a lot better than the visitors, and got the reward for it.
In the end the Bulls will be kicking themselves for being in such a position because Glasgow were clearly vulnerable, and if the Bulls were just 20 per cent better, could have caused an upset. But it was a massive reminder as well what the Bulls will be up against if they have to meet the URC leaders in a game in a few weeks’ time.
Still it was a game that will leave Bulls fans frustrated, not the least because they were leading 14-12 at the break and will feel they missed an opportunity.
They were the first on the board through a Handre Pollard penalty, and looked to be holding their own - that was until the 18th minute when Stafford McDowell - an easy choice for the man of the match later on - broke through the middle and three passes later watched as Max Williamson snapped up a pop pass to crash over the line and give Glasgow the lead.
The Bulls hit back seven minutes later as Johan Grobbelaar went over in the corner, this time thanks to a blindside move that started with Canan Moodie and David Kriel, with the latter perfecting the back pass at the right time to send Grobbelaar over in the corner.
Pollard put through another penalty to extend the Bulls lead, but it didn’t last long as the Bulls committed the cardinal sin from the restart and were pinned for offside. The penalty was sent in to the corner and Jack Dempsey took it from the back of the lineout maul to find a way over the line and get Glasgow back into the lead.
Pollard’s third penalty on the edge of halftime, gave the Bulls a 14-12 lead, but they always knew they were going to be up against it in the second half when they were playing into a gale force wind.
Still, they did pretty well to hold things together, even though their finishing was way off. They were more than competitive although it never looked as if they were going to score for large parts of the half.
Glasgow struck again just before the hour mark when the Bulls were repeatedly pinned and a five metre penalty was sent to Patrick Schickerling to crash over from close range.
The Bulls were chasing the game by now but not making inroads. They would make it into the red zone but cough up the ball time and again, and Glasgow, when they got the chance, did the opposite.
It was from one of these momentum shifts that McDowell got his try in the corner, being the extra man as the Bulls defence was stretched, and got the try that would ultimately seal the game.
The Bulls scored a late try through Marco van Staden - this coming from a chip collected by Canan Moodie and Van Staden’s grit getting him over from close range. And while it gave them some hope, it was too little too late.
The last kickoff saw the Bulls penalised as Glasgow was too streetsmart to leave that door open, and Elrigh Louw was given a yellow for a team sentence after four consecutive penalties. It killed the Bulls slim hopes and gave Adam Hastings the opportunity to take the full 60 seconds and run out the clock before putting over the penalty to start the celebrations.
The Bulls are out of Europe and on this performance they don’t lack guts. What they lack is penetration and it is that which cost them dearly on a terrible night in Scotland.
SCORERS
Glasgow Warriors - tries: Max Williamson, Jack Dempsey, Pat Schickerling, Stafford McDowell. Conversion: Dan Lancaster. Penalty: Adam Hastings.
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Johan Grobbelaar, Marco van Staden. Conversion: David Kriel. Penalties: Handre Pollard (3).