Dazzling Chiefs thrash Bulls in startling turnaround

Bulls coach Pote Human must surely be considering banning his team from having bye weeks as they gave their most lethargic performance in many years and were thrashed 56-20 by the Chiefs in their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Riding high at the top of the South African Conference as they had their first week off, the Bulls were fully expected to overcome a winless Chiefs side at their Loftus Versfeld fortress.

Instead they came out flatfooted, sluggish and lacking any intensity, and were duly blown away by a team desperate to gain their first win this season and boasting enough quality to achieve it in handsome style.

Who was the star in this match?

Damian McKenzie, back in the Chiefs’ number 15 jersey, was the undisputed man of the match, pulling the strings on attack in superb fashion for the Chiefs, and also having a nine out of 10 success rate with the boot. The All Black dynamo was everything the Bulls were not – doing everything at pace, executing his tremendous skills with impressive precision and just seeming to really enjoy being out in the sunshine playing footy on a Saturday afternoon. The space given to him by the lacklustre Bulls defence obviously helped too.

Key moments and themes

• The Chiefs were dominant from the outset with the Bulls giving away possession as if it was a post-Christmas sale and failing dismally with their tactical kicking, although they did start the match playing against the wind. The home side were also slow to react and get to the rucks, cleaners often arriving too late and there being very little pressure put on the Chiefs’ ball. Despite all of this, they managed to hold the Kiwis to 3-3 in the first quarter.
• The resolve of the Bulls faded in the second quarter as the Chiefs went into the break with the comfort of a 24-6 lead, all the troubles of the start of the season a distant memory. The first try came when they were caught by surprise, and were in disarray, by an up-and-under from scrumhalf Brad Weber inside the Bulls half, wing Solomon Alaimalo having acres of space to dot down. McKenzie had the nasty habit of popping up all over the place and he did so again in the 31^st minute to split the Bulls defence; brother Marty McKenzie, on as a replacement, then gave a lovely show of the ball and sliced through the midfield, inside centre Alex Nankivell rounding off for the second try. The third try came after the halftime hooter as lock Brodie Retallick forced his way over as the Bulls, obviously stunned, began slipping off tackles.
• Kicking the ball straight to Damian McKenzie can be as harmful as smoking a pack of cigarettes at halftime, but that’s exactly what Bulls flyhalf Handre Pollard did straight after the break, allowing the 23-year-old to tear their defence apart, leading to Retallick plunging over for his second try.
• Except for late tries by outside centre Jesse Kriel, doing well to control the ball and hold off a tackler after a clever dink through by Pollard, and fellow midfielder Burger Odendaal scything through, there was precious little for the Bulls to cheer about on their worst day this season.

Point scorers:

Chiefs – Tries: Brodie Retallick (2), Alex Nankivell (2), Solomon Alaimalo (2), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi. Conversions: Damian McKenzie (6). Penalties: McKenzie (3).

Bulls – Tries: Jesse Kriel, Burger Odendaal. Conversions: Handre Pollard (2). Penalties: Pollard (2).

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