The Vodacom Bulls delivered a powerful scrum message to the rest of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they scrummed their way to a bonus-point 29-14 win over the Dragons in Newport on Friday night.
The Bulls stopped a three game losing streak in all competitions and gave themselves a boost to stay in the top half of the log as they continue to navigate their “month of hell” between hemispheres.
Considering they didn’t have coach Jake White at the game, and lost flyhalf Chris Smith before kickoff - both to illness - it turned out to be a good night for the Bulls as they dominated the setpieces and could have won by further if they had not conspired against themselves to give the Dragons a look in the first half.
There were a number of strong performances, not least by the pack and front row in particular as they rattled off the penalties one by one, but despite a string of seven penalties at one stage in the second half in the red zone, referee Mike Adamson was hesitant to give a team warning, let alone a yellow card for repeated transgressions.
The fact that the Dragons conceded no less than eight scrum penalties and two free kicks, and didn’t win one scrum of their own in the entire game underlines the dominance and the Bulls, while happy that they were on top, should have got more reward from the officials for this dominance.
Still, they came through when it mattered most to seal the bonus point in the second half and never really looked threatened to lose the game.
The Bulls started off like a house on fire as they attacked out wide early and got immediate reward as Johan Goosen broke a tackle and offloaded to a flying Kurt-Lee Arendse to run downfield and slide on the artificial pitch to score.
They were then awarded a penalty try after a deft chip over the defence in the red zone by Zak Burger saw Lewis Jones slap the ball away over the dead ball line, preventing Canan Moodie’s attempt to catch the ball in the air and score the try.
Jones was yellow carded and the Bulls were awarded a penalty try for the infringement, and with a penalty by Goosen extended their lead to 17-0.
Then the errors started creeping in and the momentum shifted. Most criminal of all was four missed touchline penalty finders by Goosen, which led to both tries by the Dragons in the space of 10 minutes.
While Goosen has unbelievable talent, the latter part of the first half showed why the debate has not settled around him, as he blows hot and cold at times and this was a crucial moment in the game.
The first try for the Dragons came to Bradley Roberts, as the Dragons caught the Bulls napping at the front of the lineout, shifting the ball back to Roberts to go in at the corner.
The second came directly from Goosen’s missed touch as the Dragons ran the ball back at the Bulls with Max Clark getting the pass to beat the defence down the touchline.
Suddenly 17-0 was 17-14 and the Dragons had their tails up.
The Bulls looked more clinical in the second half, using their scrum to good effect as they pounded the Dragons front row. After a string of penalties, they simply moved the ball to Harold Vorster who came in on the angle to go over untouched.
A few minutes later Bismarck du Plessis wasn’t even on the pitch for 60 seconds when he took the ball ove the line at the back of a maul to get the bonus point.
The Bulls struggled late in the game again as things got sloppy and will know despite the win that similar soft moments in bigger games against better opposition will cost them dearly and they won’t be able to get away with it with the ease they did on the cold Welsh evening.
But after three tough weeks a win was welcome and the bonus point will be the icing on the cake as they return home to continue action in the Heineken Champions Cup.
SCORERS
Dragons - tries: Bradley Roberts, Max Clark. Conversions: Sam Davies (2).
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Penalty try, Harold Vorster, Bismarck du Plessis. Conversions: Johan Goosen (3). Penalty: Goosen.