The Vodacom Bulls fell to their first defeat in this year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Friday, going down 22-23 to Scarlets in Llanelli, Wales, in another game overshadowed by mediocre refereeing that stole the headlines.
The Bulls received their second red card in as many weeks - this time to Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar for a tackle that seemed innocuous at best, and seemed to be motivated by how ball carrier Marnus van der Merwe clutched his head afterwards in an Oscar-worthy performance.
Replays showed that there was no clear direct head contact, and at the same time a change in level by Van der Merwe going into the tackle, but this was all ignored by referee Federico Vedovelli from Italy, who immediately ruled it a red card.
Don’t be surprised if the Bulls put up another fight at the judiciary against a card that should never have been.
After David Kriel’s red was rescinded by the URC’s disciplinary committee last week, there is a strong case that this should never have been a red card either.
What made it worse was that Vedovelli ignored clear head contact to Boeta Chamberlain less than two minutes before, where he took a ball and was struck as he went to ground.
While there would have been mitigating circumstances in that incident, the referee chose not to even look at it, even though it could easily have been a yellow card.
The same for an incident early in the game where Josh Macleod's swinging arm hit Zak Burger in the face, but Vedovelli decided it was only worth a penalty.
The red card turned the game on its head and allowed Scarlets to score the winning try shortly afterwards when winger Tom Rogers scored a blinder by stepping Kurt-Lee Arendse, Harold Vorster and handing off Embrose Papier for a quality score.
The Vodacom Bulls lose their perfect record in the 2024/25 #VURC 🐂❌ pic.twitter.com/yQXCGeTshj
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 18, 2024
Vedovelli’s overall performance was incredibly poor for this level, as he also ignored a no-arms shoulder charge to Cobus Wiese that clearly could have been a card and at the scrums allowed Scarlets to delay and collapse the scrum almost at will, and failed to take a decision on which side was infringing.
SUCKED INTO A SLUGFEST
But having said that, where the Bulls' game management can only be regarded as exceptional with 13 men last weekend, this week it was extremely poor in the final 20 minutes as the experience of the Boks that headed home was sadly missed.
At halftime the Bulls were in control at 19-10 up, but they allowed themselves to be sucked into a slugfest in the second half and with so much being allowed off the ball, it suited the home side in the driving rain.
The Bulls had more than enough chances to win the game, but were nowhere near accurate enough.
Just like in the win over the Ospreys, they scored their tries in the first half and failed to dominate in the second half when it mattered most.
The Bulls scored with their virtual first chance to attack, as Canan Moodie handled the ball three times in a 10-pass try, starting and ending a superb attack that swept across the field to end up over the tryline.
That Canan Moodie Link Up 👌@Vodacom #URC | #SCAvBUL pic.twitter.com/UHlCtnJpeg
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) October 18, 2024
But Scarlets were simply a side that wouldn’t go away. Shortly afterwards they hit back through MacLeod, who twisted his way over the line after a dominant lineout maul to even up the scores.
Zak Burger then added his name to the scoresheet when a Bulls lineout maul was stopped, but Scarlets failed to defend the blind side and he ran in untouched in a superb halfback try.
Kurt-Lee Arendse’s name wasn’t going to be kept off the scoresheet but it was Canan Moodie who reached and fortuitously lost the ball backwards for Arendse to pick up and go over and score, giving the Bulls their third try.
What happens when two Springboks travel to Llanelli 🔥
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) October 18, 2024
Kurt-Lee Arendse 🤝 Canan Moodie@Vodacom #URC | #SCAvBUL pic.twitter.com/JnbC49nmB0
Ioan Lloyd’s penalty on halftime gave the Scarlets hope, and their try shortly after halftime to winger Blair Murray, who took the ball after a breakaway from a lineout maul, put them firmly back into the game.
The second-half mess favoured the home side as Lloyd and Boeta Chamberlain swopped penalties, but the momentum shift came when Grobbelaar was given the dubious card.
And while Scarlets may celebrate their victory - their second ever in the URC over the Bulls - the match experience left a sour taste in the mouths of Bulls fans and neutrals as the officiating once again overshadowed what should have been a good game.
SCORERS
SCARLETS - tries: Josh Macleod, Blair Murray, Tom Rogers. Conversion: Ioan Lloyd. Penalties: Lloyd (2).
VODACOM BULLS - tries: Canan Moodie, Zak Burger, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (2). Penalty: Chamberlain.