Bumbling Bulls run out of legs as Blues soar

The Bulls started their overseas tour with a parlous 38-14 defeat at the hands of the Blues in Albany on Saturday.

It’s a loss and an awful performance that’s going to cause questions to be asked about the team’s coaching and management.

Nollis Marais’ troops were level 7-7 at halftime despite having already conceded seven penalties, making numerous handling errors and looking out-of-sync on attack.

Predictably, that’s as good as it got for the tourists as the second half saw them totally disintegrate.

The Blues added five more tries to earn a bonus point.

Replacement scrumhalf Rudy Paige was given a consolation try after the final hooter, having not grounded the ball but probably deserving a penalty try anyway, but the Bulls had been goners long before that.

They started brightly enough with a promising attack in the Blues’ 22, but referee Nic Berry ended it with a harsh obstruction call.

The home side’s backline was gone in a flash, roaring up the left side of the field and some superb handling and offloads saw scrumhalf Augustine Pulu scooting over the line for the opening try.

The Bulls would be back on level terms after 17 minutes as they earned a ruck penalty, flyhalf Handre Pollard’s super kick set up a lineout in the corner and prop Lizo Gqoboka burrowed over for a try.

There would be further opportunities for the Bulls in the first half, but their handling was dire.

The second half would be the same story, only worse, as the Blues quickly seized control of the game.

An early attack by the Bulls came to nothing as nobody seemed to know who was meant to clean or to tackle as winger Matt Duffie scored.

The most astonishing example of clueless play by the Bulls came in the 56^th minute.

Lock Lood de Jager did well to steal the ball at a five-metre lineout, but at the resulting ruck replacement flank Jannes Kirsten cleared the ball by making the awful decision to feed a pass inside his own in-goal area.

That conceded a five-metre scrum, from which Francis’s pinpoint kick-pass across the field was claimed by Duffie for his second try.

It didn’t even help the Bulls when Blues flank Jimmy Tupou was temporarily sent from the field for a neck roll.

Soon thereafter, Bulls winger Jamba Ulengo burst out of his defensive line  like a crazed shopper on Black Friday, and the Blues’ replacement flyhalf, Ihaia West, knifed through.

The Blues were 24-7 up and continued to boss the game as one was left with the nagging impression that the Bulls ran out of legs.

The home side were able to hang on to the ball through numerous phases because of their impressive handling skills, with outside centre Rieko Ioane making his presence felt and helping replacement hooker Matt Moulds going over in the corner.

West had barely kicked the conversion for a 31-7 lead when he was bursting through the line again, with the Bulls defence far too narrow, creating acres of space out wide for Nanai to go roaring through for a dazzling try.

The Bulls did get the final points as they earned a free kick at a scrum under the poles.

Point scorers: Blues 38 (7) – Tries: Matt Duffie (2), Augustine Pulu, Ihaia West, Matt Moulds, Melani Nanai. Conversions: Piers Francis (2), West (2). Bulls 14 (7) – Tries: Lizo Gqoboka, Rudy Paige. Conversions: Handre Pollard, Tian Schoeman.

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