The Bulls survived some close shaves and a yellow card to pull off a gutsy 18-12 victory over Cardiff in Wales on Friday night to move to the top of the United Rugby Championship log.
The Pretoria side seemed to be well in control of the match on the 4G pitch at Cardiff Arms Park with a 15-5 advantage, after flyhalf Chris Smith slotted a penalty early in the second half.
But centre David Kriel’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on in the 53rd minute allowed the Welsh club to swarm all over the Bulls defence.
The Blues pounced almost immediately as No 13 Rey Lee-Lo’s incredible pick-up at the back of what appeared to be a ruck saw him gallop all the way to the tryline, with referee Sam Grove-White ruling that he was allowed to play the ball as it was just a tackle.
Scramble in defence
Jake White’s team had to scramble in defence in the last quarter as Cardiff launched several attacks, but they were thwarted by some committed tackling from the visitors.
Smith slotted a late penalty to stretch the lead to 18-12, and the Bulls held on for a second triumph on tour following their 54-29 walloping of Zebre in Parma last week.
White will be relieved that his team managed to hold on for victory as they started like a house on fire.
After absorbing a 13-phase attack from Cardiff in the opening five minutes, the Pretoria outfit produced the try of the night when a long pass from fullback Devon Williams sparked a stunning move.
Stedman Gans put on some fancy footwork before pulling off a magical offload in the tackle to find Kriel, who put in a chip ahead that was gobbled up by flying scrumhalf Embrose Papier to finish the opening five-pointer.
A few minutes later, lively Bulls right wing Sebastian de Klerk scooped up a loose Cardiff pass and raced over 50 metres to round off, and suddenly it was 12-0 to the South African franchise.
The home side didn’t give up the fight, though, with midfielders Lee-Lo and Willis Halaholo a handful for the Bulls defence.
Cardiff eventually found their rhythm with ball-in-hand, and left wing Mason Grady dotted down in the 23rd minute to reduce the deficit to 12-5.
Bulls pack get stuck in
But the Bulls pack got stuck in to stop the Cardiff forwards, with tighthead prop Wilco Louw – who was chosen as the Man of the Match – once again showing why he was brought back from England as he dominated opposite number Corey Domachowski in the scrums.
Captain and flank Nizaam Carr, No 4 lock Reinhardt Ludwig and hooker Akker van der Merwe were also prominent on attack and defence.
The visitors will be disappointed that they weren’t able to get their drives going off lineouts, with Van der Merwe isolated at times with the ball at the back of the maul.
But the ‘Bomb Squad’ from the 6-2 bench was valuable in the closing stages, as the likes of outstanding young loose forward Cameron Hanekom and hooker Johan Grobbelaar made some powerful carries and timely interventions at the breakdowns to close out the victory.
The four log points saw the Bulls move up to 15 after four matches, one ahead of Ulster, who beat Munster 21-14 in Belfast on Friday night.
Points-Scorers
Cardiff 12 – Tries: Mason Grady, Rey Lee-Lo. Conversion: Tinus de Beer (1).
Bulls 18 – Tries: Embrose Papier, Sebastian de Klerk. Conversion: Chris Smith (1). Penalties: Smith (2).