Jake White had urged his Bulls team to have a full go at Leinster, but a number of unforced errors from the visitors contributed to a disappointing 47-14 defeat at the RDS Arena in Dublin on Friday night.
The start of the United Rugby Championship top-of-the-table clash was worthy of the occasion, with both teams going toe-to-toe in a fierce scrum contest and bruising breakdown battle.
But the Bulls were their own worst enemies to concede seven tries to one.
In fact, it was the Bulls who had the edge in the first half, with tighthead prop Wilco Louw winning his scrum fight with veteran Leinster loosehead Cian Healy, while the loose trio of Marco van Staden, Elrigh Louw and Marcell Coetzee made a number of strong carries.
Flyhalf Johan Goosen slotted two penalties for a 6-0 lead after 15 minutes, and it looked as if the Bulls were well on their way to a repeat of their epic 2022 semi-final victory at the same venue.
But suddenly they started to slip off their first-time tackles – having previously made effective double hits – to provide much-needed momentum for the Leinster attack.
That was just the sniff that the hosts needed, and they got their snappy offloading game going with a thrilling passage of play sparked by fullback Jordan Larmour, with centre Jamie Osborne delivering the scoring pass to flank Josh van der Flier in the 19th minute.
This Jordan Larmour moment of magic combined with Josh van der Flier's power = Try time 😍
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) March 29, 2024
Boom time for the #15 of the #URCTop100 🔥#BKTURC #URC | #LEIvBUL | @LeinsterRugby pic.twitter.com/R7jP1ZyHiL
Flyhalf Harry Byrne’s conversion put Leinster 7-6 up, and the Bulls suffered another blow as Van Staden went off injured a few minutes later – with Mpilo Gumede replacing him.
The Pretoria side continued to be too passive in defence, which gave Leinster easy metres, and they pounced soon enough as hooker Ronan Kelleher dotted down from a five-metre lineout drive.
The Bulls, though, didn’t give up the fight totally, and it was Goosen who launched a breathtaking counter-attack from the back, and he sent Kurt-Lee Arendse over in the right corner.
The Springbok wing had to ride a dangerous tackle from Leinster captain and scrumhalf Luke McGrath, though, in the act of scoring, and referee Craig Evans ruled that McGrath only deserved a yellow card.
But the TV replays clearly showed that McGrath had gone high and made head contact with an upright Arendse, so he was fortunate not to get a straight red card for what was a poor and dangerous tackle attempt.
Delicious Johan Goosen step followed by a trademark Kurt-Lee Arendse sprint to the line 😎
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) March 29, 2024
Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby are lightning up the RDS 🏟️✨#BKTURC #URC | #LEIvBUL pic.twitter.com/dnzXi3IL2X
Arendse was stopped again inside the Leinster 22, but the hosts managed to win the breakdown turnover with a counter-ruck.
But Goosen had time to slot a third penalty just before halftime, and the Bulls were 14-12 ahead at the break..
With a crowd of 16 892 willing them on, Leinster managed to absorb the pressure with 14 men in McGrath’s absence, and were quicker to strike in the second half, with new scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park ever present on attack.
Within five minutes, the Irish province went through nearly 20 phases before wing James Lowe forced his way over on the short side, and it looked like the Bulls defence had run out of steam.
The match was ended as a contest three minutes later, with replacement prop Michael Milne grabbing the bonus-point try after another scintillating Leinster attack.
The home side hit fast at the start of the second half with back-to-back tries, first with Lowe 👇#LEIvBUL | @Vodacom #URC | #UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/YdS2myLevO
— vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) March 29, 2024
Arendse produced some thrilling runs in the second half, and was denied a second try for an accidental kick to the body of a Leinster player, but that was as good as it got for the Bulls in the final 40 minutes.
They wasted two crucial attacking lineouts, with replacement hooker Johan Grobbelaar uncharacteristically overthrowing on both occasions to the back, while their energy in defence was sapped by the continuity from the Leinster ball-carriers.
They finished off the Bulls in the 64th minute when big No 8 Jack Conan powered through Goosen off a scrum, with replacement hooker Dan Sheehan rounding off on the left.
Conan himself and outside back Liam Turner added two further tries to turn what had started as a promising night into one to forget for an out-gunned Bulls side.
Leinster now move up to 54 points at the top of the standings, nine ahead of the second-placed Bulls.
Points-Scorers
Leinster 47 – Tries: Josh van der Flier, Ronan Kelleher, James Lowe, Michael Milne, Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan, Liam Turner. Conversions: Harry Byrne (3), Ross Byrne (3).
Bulls 14 – Try: Kurt-Lee Arendse. Penalties: Johan Goosen (3).