Cape Town – It was well short of the “complete game” demanded from coach Jake White, but the Bulls continued to put down an impressive marker in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday night with a comprehensive 55-20 victory over the Dragons.
It was their fourth consecutive win, and they are quickly turning Loftus Versfeld into the fortress that it became in the Currie Cup over the last few years.
A second 50-point tally – after last week’s 57-12 win over the Scarlets – proves that the consistency that White has been asking for his players is starting to be achieved.
Yes, the Welsh sides are battling at the moment, especially in South Africa, but you can only beat what’s in front of you. The Bulls ran in eight tries on the night in slippery conditions, and that has to be commended.
It took just four minutes for the home side to get the ball rolling, with No 8 Arno Botha dotting down after a lineout maul was stopped.
One of the negatives for the Bulls, though, was the early departure of tighthead prop Jacques van Rooyen, who got a knock to his left thigh when he was tackled and wasn’t able to continue.
His replacement, Mornay Smith, enjoyed an excellent return to the URC following a lengthy injury layoff with a powerful display in the scrums and a busy shift on attack and defence.
The Bulls, though, were a bit scrappy in the first half as they struggled to hold on to the ball. Some of the passing was forced, and they didn’t show enough patience on attack and made too many unforced errors.
They eventually found their rhythm in the second quarter, and it led to an impressive five-pointer by Lionel Mapoe after fellow centre Harold Vorster and captain Marcell Coetzee produced lovely offloads in the tackle.
The match was ended as a contest two minutes later when Canan Moodie won an up-and-under and Embrose Papier sniped down the right before finding Kurt-Lee Arendse on his inside.
The bonus-point try arrived just before halftime via hooker Johan Grobbelaar from a driving maul, and it was 31-3 to the Bulls.
Star wing Madosh Tambwe was forced off with an arm injury, though, and White will hope that he will be ready to take on Ulster next week.
The Dragons never gave up despite being outclassed, and tries either side of the break from wings Rio Dyer and Jared Rosser gave them some hope and reduced the lead to 31-13.
But the Bulls snuffed out any chance of a miracle comeback with four second-half tries by Arendse, Coetzee, Mapoe and Zak Burger to bring up the half-century once more.
There are more than enough areas for the home side to work on for White next week, as Ulster will provide a much sterner test and will be determined to pull off a victory after their narrow 23-20 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town earlier on Saturday.
Points-Scorers
Bulls 55 – Tries: Arno Botha, Lionel Mapoe (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee, Zak Burger. Conversions: Chris Smith (5), Morné Steyn (1). Penalty: Smith (1).
Dragons 20 – Tries: Rio Dyer, Jared Rosser, Sam Davies. Conversion: Davies (1). Penalty: Davies (1).
IOL Sport