Four-try Bulls march forward

The Vodacom Bulls scored four tries to down playoff contenders Glasgow Warriors 29-17 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night and stake a major claim for a home playoff place.

While the rest of the weekend’s fixtures still need to be played, the Bulls moved (temporarily perhaps) into second spot behind Leinster by picking up the bonus point and denying the Warriors a losing one of their own.

Before the game just four points separated the teams two to eight on the log and after Friday night’s result it is a fait accompli that the Bulls will definitely not only be in the playoffs of the URC, but could very well be the catalyst for three teams to qualify for the Champions Cup next season.

It's win number ?? for the Vodacom Bulls in the Vodacom #URC as they beat Glasgow 29-17 and pick up a bonus point ?? pic.twitter.com/9Obj5Wi2SO

— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) April 29, 2022

With the Welsh teams automatically taking one of the eight spots available in the rich European competition, the South African shield winner will automatically qualify, but three spots will be open to teams that finish in the top eight.

The Scottish team that finishes second would automatically be competing for a place in the Champions’ Cup with a third SA team, which makes the Glasgow result even more satisfying from a South African point of view.

But more than that, the Bulls marched on on their home turf, their fortress Loftus and showed that other than Connacht’s win in Johannesburg and Edinburgh’s win in Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria have not had their home grounds breached by overseas opposition.

The Bulls now only have one game to play - against the Ospreys in Wales in the final round and after this performance will be backing themselves to travel and get the win and perhaps even a home ground quarterfinal in the process. There definitely won’t be a lack of motivation for that game.

But even as they work towards that goal, there are some pressing concerns still that could be crucial when they hit that phase.

Another slow start saw Glasgow score first and a poor defending effort - not for the first time this season - at the end of the game almost allowed Glasgow to get a losing bonus point.

Coach Jake White will want his team to be a lot more clinical, especially when it comes to the games that are do-or-die, and soft points as in the latter stages of this match won’t go down well and could even be fatal.

Still, the Bulls' second-half surge - which seems to be their trademark this season when they leave the changeroom at half time - was enough to see them home as they scored twice times in the opening 20 minutes of the second half to grab the bonus point and get what they needed.

BULLS' MAUL COME TO LIFE

Glasgow again started well, and scored early on through a mammoth rolling maul that disintegrated and gave the referee no choice but to award a penalty try.

Elrigh Louw got his marching orders as part of the aftermath but the Bulls actually came out on top after being a man down as they hammered the Warriors line, before Zak Burger saw an opening and stitched his hand through it to score.

Glasgow had the majority of the first half play, but for all their bravado it seemed as if they were going nowhere. They weren’t making inroads, and other than a penalty by flyhalf Duncan Weir they had little to show for their efforts as the Bulls defence held strong and between Johan Grobbelaar and Marcell Coetzee they had nightmares at the breakdown.

The big shift came just before the break when they kept the pressure up with a rolling maul, before Louw and Walt Steenkamp came close. Then with a slight of hand they sent the ball wide as Madosh Tambwe cantered in for the try.

Tambwe should have added a second early in the second half as he performed some heroics to one-handedly snatch the ball out of the air from a grubber but replays showed him in front of the ball, and the try was cancelled.

It didn’t matter as the Bulls' maul suddenly came to life and walked with the Warriors pack downfield almost at will, and you could sense the game was shifting very much in the favour of the home side.

It didn’t take long before another penalty resulted in another maul and the pounding stopped when Walt Steenkamp burst through at speed to score the third try.

As if it was almost inevitable Cyle Brink added the fourth moments later as the Bulls emptied their bench.

The Warriors looked a lot better in the last 20 as they scored through Ollie Smith and were denied a losing bonus point by a replay that showed a clear forward pass.

The Bulls were left scratching their heads as to how they allowed the Warriors to even have a sniff at a bonus point.

But they held out and on the night the scoreboard read the way White wanted it to read - and the Bulls moved up the ladder.

What happens next is anyone’s guess, but the Bulls won’t die wondering. They’ve made their intentions clear and have the easier final game of the other two SA sides.

They may have looked out of the running, but if the cards fall in their favour, White could be smiling when the playoffs start.

SCORERS:

Vodacom Bulls 29 - tries: Zak Burger, Madosh Tambwe, Walt Steenkamp, Cyle Brink. Conversions: Morne Steyn (3). Penalty: Steyn.

Glasgow Warriors 17 - tries: Oliver Smith, Penalty try. Conversion: Ross Thompson. Penalty: Duncan Weir.