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Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier tries to make a hole. (Gallo images)
If there was anything to take away from the Bulls’ 48-31 win over the Pumas in a warm-up series fixture in Nelspruit, it’s that SA Rugby’s decision to have 10-day inter-game cycles is consistently paying off.
The men of Loftus are clearly enjoying the extra time they can now spend in training camp and there is no better illustration of that than comparing this performance to their previous visit to the Lowveld.
On that occasion, an unbridled combination of Pumas played a young and experimental Bulls team by claiming an excellent 44-14 Currie Cup victory.
However, there were extenuating circumstances, as Jake White’s troops only had a single training session after they had to cram two games in a week due to a Covid-19 outbreak within their squad.
Armed this time with a clear plan and meaningful tutelage at Loftus Field B, a combination of the Bulls with an average age of 22 stood out.
Of course, they were assisted to a great extent by a home team that collapsed under the weight of the sanctions they conceded, but there could be no doubt that they came up with a plan, one that made liberal use of a dynamic group of forwards, and what executed well.
The tone was set as early as the second minute, when a sloppy trip by Pumas seeker Francois Kleinhans gave the Bulls the first of a litany of penalties.
They went to play and hooker Joe van Zyl jumped out of a mallet.
Buoyed by a promising performance last week against the Lions, where they won the shot count 3-2, the Pumas were, at times, sublime with the ball in hand.
They responded immediately after that initial setback through crosses Ali Mgijima and Sebastian de Klerk, who combined deliciously for the latter to drive a huge gap on defense.
The pressure of the resulting penalty had Kleinhans chant with a try from a rolling maul.
The tit-for-tat continued as Bulls running back Embrose Papier’s diagonal run created momentum for his teammates to show patience and good hands for wing Stravino Jacobs to come out in the left corner.
But the Pumas once again exploited some tentative innings, winger Tapiwa Mafura delivered an excellent volley to the boisterous Kleinhans, who found Mafura again and deftly struck the ball to block Brandon Valentyn.
After that, however, the hosts faded as the Bulls, displaying composure and skill, exploited virtually every indiscretion by keeping things simple.
Van Zyl (who finished with a double), Gerhard Steenekamp and Mornay Smith all passed close, earning the Bulls the only distinction from all front row scoring attempts.
It was one-way traffic until the final 15 minutes when the Cougars destroyed themselves so much that the mentor, Jimmy Stonehouse, told the television production that what he was witnessing was “ridiculous.”
Once center Marnus Potgieter went from a quick touch, White sent in most of his replacements, clearly disrupting the flow of proceedings.
That allowed the Pumas to score two attempts to give the score some respectability, before the Bulls had the last word with a late-move try to replace hooker Janco Uys.
The method?
You guessed it, a rolling mallet.
Points:
Cougars – 31 (17)
Attempts: Francois Kleinhans, Brandon Valentyn, Penalty Test, Dewald Maritz
Conversion: Niel Marais (2), Eddie Fouche
Penalty: Marais
Bulls – 48 (27)
Attempts: Joe van Zyl (2), Stravino Jacobs, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Marnus Potgieter, Janco Uys
Conversions: Chris Smith (5)
Penalty: Smith
