Cape Town – The Bulls hardly fired a shot despite losing by just two points to the Stormers on Saturday, and coach Jake White felt that they had looked “a little bit disorganised” at times at Cape Town Stadium.
The Stormers clinched a 19-17 victory, but in reality, they were clearly the better team on the day as they showed greater intent on attack and physicality in the collisions.
The Bulls, though, just seemed flat and lacked the zip that has characterised some of their comprehensive bonus-point wins in recent weeks against the likes of Ulster, Dragons and Scarlets.
ALSO READ: Stormers attack rewarded as they hold off late Bulls surge at Cape Town Stadium
The Pretoria side, through star lock Ruan Nortje, won a number of lineouts against the throw, but couldn’t turn that possession into points, with the likes of Madosh Tambwe and Kurt-Lee Arendse not brought into the game often enough.
Some of the deliveries from their own lineout throw-ins weren’t smooth enough to launch the backline, while halfbacks Zak Burger and Chris Smith’s tactical kicks sometimes went too far downfield.
“At times, we looked a little bit disorganised. We put ourselves under pressure from first phase… a bit from the lineouts as well. We couldn’t get any rhythm, and they were very good at the breakdown. Every time we did get the ball, we struggled to keep it through a couple of phases. It’s not the best we played – it’s one of those games,” White said in the post-match press conference.
#STOvBUL
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 9, 2022
FT: That's the end of the action at DHL Stadium. The home side claims the bragging rights with a narrow victory. DHL Stormers 19-17 Vodacom Bulls#TrueToTheBlue @Vodacom #URC @URCOfficial_RSA pic.twitter.com/LzcGLPxTwG
“It’s difficult to play here. It’s difficult to play against the Stormers in Cape Town. At least we got a losing bonus point… at least we are still alive, and that’s obviously crucial.
“The last couple of weeks we won our lineouts and won quick ball at the breakdown and all of that. I thought Deon Fourie played quite well. At times, he was lying on the ground playing the ball, but good luck to him!
“They changed their defensive pattern from their lineouts – they did a different defensive pattern in the way they contested. They caught us a little bit, and we probably took a long time into getting back into winning the ball.
“When we did, we looked all right. We scored a try from a lineout in the 22 there. We got a penalty from mauling on the halfway line. So, when we did it get it right, we got the reward. But they did make it difficult for us.”
That step... 😱
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) April 9, 2022
How good from Dayimani 👀 @Vodacom #URC | #STOvBUL pic.twitter.com/tETr0oO5TF
After the Stormers went into halftime with a 10-3 lead – courtesy of flank Hacjivah Dayimani’s outstanding try just before the break – the Bulls hit back through a superb touchdown themselves by wing Canan Moodie.
It was sparked by Burger’s line-break through the middle, and he passed to Conral Hendricks, who fed the speedy Moodie to finish in the corner.
It looked like the Bulls were back on track at 10-10, but then Manie Libbok landed two penalties and Damian Willemse a classy drop goal to put the home side 19-10 ahead.
Bulls fullback Arendse then showcased his lightning speed to go all the way into the Stormers 22, but then he was brought down illegally by Dayimani, who was yellow-carded by referee Frank Murphy following a lengthy consultation with TMO Marius Jonker.
Big No 8 Elrigh Louw, who had been closely marked for most of the match, crossed the whitewash to ensure an exciting finish, but the Cape outfit played a smart territory game with 14 men to emerge victorious.
“(The defining moment) Just before halftime I think, when we dived over the tryline and probably had a chance to score there (but were held up, and the Stormers got a goal-line drop-out),” White said.
“When you rewind the game, it’s easy. What we should have done is get the ball back from the drop-out, kick it into touch and taken 3-all into halftime. All of a sudden, we are 10-3 down, and the margins are so small – you either get it right or you get it wrong.
“We’ve been getting it right for a couple of weeks now, and we probably didn’t get it right today. Those are the learnings we need to put into place.
“We had a chance at the end. I tell you now, if we could’ve got into their half, Morné Steyn would’ve kicked that penalty. But we couldn’t get out of their half. They played tactically well.
“We probably kicked the ball back to them too often, but had we lost because they scored another try and we don’t get a (log) point, then I would’ve said to you ‘Geez, we should’ve maybe just try to get out of our half’.”
IOL Sport