Hat-trick hero Gelant and forwards inspire Bulls to big win

The Bulls certainly had more bite than their moo as they hammered the Sharks 40-10 in their Super Rugby derby at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

While the Sharks, who had to travel back from New Zealand for the game, looked flat and fatigued, the Bulls came out energised after their bye and hit the home team hard from the start.

Trailing 10-21 at halftime, the Sharks were forced to chase the game in the second half and, with the weather becoming really icky, their attacking efforts were often over-ambitious and resulted in a slew of handling errors.

By contrast, the Bulls were clinical and ruthless on attack, with fullback Warrick Gelant their ace with a hat-trick of tries. The Bulls driving maul was also extremely efficient and the penalty try they won early in the second half was a real kick in the shins for the Sharks.

Who was the star in this match?

Gelant took the plaudits and his superbly-taken hat-trick will hog the limelight, but Lood de Jager was the true hero of this Bulls effort.

From the opening minute through to the last, De Jager was in the thick of the action and he made close to 20 tackles, a phenomenal effort.

He was also the kingpin at lineout time, both on his own ball and in terms of stealing Sharks throws.

The Springbok provided the perfect mix of physicality and immense work-rate and his example was a big reason why the Bulls pack was so inspired.

Key moments and themes

• For all coach John Mitchell’s emphasis on ball-in-hand, the Bulls do kick extremely smartly. Flyhalf Handre Pollard enjoyed a fine game in terms of his tactical kicking, while all three of Gelant’s tries came from kicks. In the sixth minute, the fullback was on to a chip over the top of the defensive line by Pollard in a flash. Three minutes later, the Bulls forwards were able to do the necessary in terms of keeping the ball moving in the backline, with flank Thembelani Bholi gaining tremendous ground with his own grubber. Gelant then produced a lovely little dab through into wide open space, running on to his own kick to score. The 2017 Springbok then completed his hat-trick in the 78^th minute with a try that summed up the difference between the two teams’ kicking games. While a Sharks chip over the top was into a crowd of players and claimed by Gelant, the Bulls fullback, having dodged a few defenders, then ensured his grubber was into space.
• We are a country that seems to have a love-hate relationship with fetchers, but the Bulls went hard at the ball and the rucks to good effect, with Marco van Staden making prominent steals, ably backed up by Roelof Smit and hooker Adriaan Strauss was also a nuisance at the breakdown. Tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane was also a factor.
• Even in the first half, before the heavy rain arrived, the Sharks were not able to make much headway on attack. They seemed to lack a clear plan and their handling let them down too, but credit must also go to a Bulls defence that did not budge, with the big men up front showing terrific hunger in terms of making tackles.
• Coach Mitchell’s focus on skills certainly seems to be paying off for the Bulls, who handled the ball superbly in testing conditions. It was noticeable too how comfortable the forwards were with linking with the backs.

Points scorers

Sharks – Try: Andre Esterhuizen. Conversion: Robert du Preez. Penalty: Du Preez.

Bulls – Tries: Warrick Gelant (3), Adriaan Strauss, penalty try, Johnny Kotze. Conversions: Handre Pollard (3), Manie Libbok.

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