The Vodacom Bulls continued their impressive march in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, notching up their first win ever in Galway as they downed Irish side Connacht 28-14 on Saturday night.
The Bulls scored two tries in either half in difficult conditions, but also left quite a few on the table in a dominant performance that underlined their credentials for the top four this season.
The away win will go a long way for them later on in the season, especially considering this first part they have hardly been at Loftus Versfeld.
The previous win, a month ago against Benetton, added to this has shown the improvements the Bulls made in their personnel, with newbie Cobus Wiese in particular putting in a strong performance at flank.
Considering the Bulls lost 31-7 the last time they were in Galway, this win would be particularly pleasing for coach Jake White.
The game was, however, marred by two red cards - one brutal and the other bordering on ridiculous - as each side lost a player on the night.
Connacht’s New Zealand born No 8 Sean Jansen was the first to depart, with what replays showed was a swinging elbow into the head of Marcell Coetzee, while the Bulls lost their No 8 Celimpilo Gumede in the second half for “making contact in the eye area.”
Gumede’s sanction came after frustration at being held by Connacht’s Caolin Blade, and he pushed him in the face. While Blade made the allegation of eye gouging, the TMO said there was no evidence of this, but referee Mike Adamson overruled him and said because it was “in the eye area” it warranted a red.
OVERZEALOUS REFFING?
The Bulls have already overturned two red cards this season after overzealous reffing, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if a staunch defence is put up this week in the disciplinary.
Still, the Bulls had the job done by the 50th minute, as the last 30 disintegrated into a scrappy affair and Connacht came back at them with two late tries to make the scoreline look a lot more respectable than it should have been.
The visitors' opening try came in the sixth minute after a lineout drive in Connacht’s 22 barged forward, only for Embrose Papier to break blind and draw the defence to put away Sebastian de Klerk for the try.
Canan Moodie was denied when a turnover ball counter attack saw him strip the defence down the touchline, then grubber forward before being taken out by a defender. Adamson said the defender was committed in what looked like a professional foul.
But Moodie had the last laugh when he took another ball and chipped it ahead, for Papier this time to win the race and pounce to score, putting the Bulls up 14-0.
That’s the way it stood until the break, but the Bulls hit early in the second half, as De Klerk put David Kriel into space on the near touchline, with Kriel dummying the defender before pinning his ears back to run 40 metres to score.
The bonus point try came from Moodie as well, as he read Connacht’s attack perfectly to intercept Jack Carty’s pass and run 50 metres to score.
At 28-0, the game was truly over, and the subs started to filter on. Connacht had the better of these subs and added late tries from David Hankshaw from close range and Blade in the last 10 minutes, but not even that could stop the Bulls from smiling at the end as they took all the points on offer away from home.
SCORES
Connacht - tries: David Hankshaw, Caolin Blade. Conversions: Cathal Forde (2).
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier, David Kriel, Canan Moodie. Conversions: Johan Goosen (4)