Wasteful Bulls steal victory at the death

Given their complete dominance in terms of territory and possession, the Bulls should have ripped the Stormers to shreds in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night, but instead they shot themselves amidships, never mind in the foot, before stealing a 31-27 win at the death.

The Bulls wasted three tries in open play, disallowed due to mistakes in the build-up, and conceded four through soft defence.

The Stormers, on the other hand, deserved immense credit for their superb defence and their brilliant counter-attacking play. They led 17-7 midway through the north-south derby and managed to find extra reserves of energy in the second half after the Bulls scored two tries in quick succession to snatch a 21-17 lead.

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Both those tries were scored by hooker Johan Grobbelaar off lineout drives, and their first-half try by Marcell Coetzee, storming over just 13 minutes into his Bulls debut, also came via a rolling maul.

But the Stormers once again caught the Bulls a step behind at the restart as flyhalf Tim Swiel caught the ball, had a dart against a dozy chasing line and then passed to wing Rosko Specman, who exploded into action, stepping and swerving, before passing back to Swiel to score.

A Morne Steyn penalty regained the lead, but Stormers wing Edwill van der Merwe weaved his way over for his second try out wide to put the Stormers back in front 27-24 going into the last 10 minutes.

But it was ultimately the Bulls’ day as Jacques van Rooyen forced a scrum penalty against Frans Malherbe, putting the Bulls on attack. They bashed and bashed until lock Ruan Nortje, who put in an outstanding 80-minute effort, forced his way over at the hooter for a face-saving try.

For all the time they spent in the Stormers’ 22, the Bulls were extremely wasteful, losing the ball and lineouts way too many times for a team that aims to win in Europe.

That they put their frustration aside to triumph was a positive, but adding to their difficulties was talismanic captain Duane Vermeulen limping off in the 34th minute with a twisted ankle.

That will have the Springboks biting their nails as well.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar (2), Ruan Nortje. Conversions: Morne Steyn (4). Penalty: Steyn.

Stormers – Tries: Damian Willemse, Edwill van der Merwe (2), Tim Swiel. Conversions: Swiel (2). Penalty: Swiel.