Match abandoned in SA but not before Jake White's Bulls dominate Stormers
The Bulls stormed to a 39-6 win over the Stormers in a Super Rugby Unlocked match that was abandoned after 64 minutes due to lightning on Saturday.
The Bulls outplayed their opponents in all areas of the game in Pretoria before the players left the field in the last quarter.
Jake White’s side scored five tries with the Stormers failing to break through the home side’s defence.
It was an early exchange of penalty kicks between Morne Steyn and Damian Willemse with the scores level at 6-6 after 15 minutes.
The Bulls then scored the game’s first try in the 23rd minute with Johan Grobbelaar going over after an unstoppable driving maul. Steyn added the extra two points with the conversion.
That lead was extended in the 28th minute when scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl evaded several defenders from a scrum before the ball went wide to Stedman Gans who ran for an excellent try. Steyn was successful with the conversion.
It got even better for the Bulls a few minutes later when Van Zyl was put into space to score an easy try after some great running by Kurt-Lee Arendse and Gans on his inside.
The Bulls scored their fourth try in the 37th minute after Steyn chipped and gathered the ball deep inside the Stormers’ half before passing to his inside to Ruan Nortje, who ran in for the score.
At half-time, it was 32-6 to the Bulls.
It was more of the same from the Bulls in the second half when Steyn sent the ball into the Stormers’ 22 with another neat chip kick before Gans gathered to run in for his second try of the game.
There was no more scoring in the game before the game was abandoned.
Man of the match: Morne Steyn gave Damian Willemse a flyhalf lesson. The Bulls pivot had a hand in three of his team’s tries and his kicking game kept the Stormers on the back foot as well. Special mention also goes to the Bulls’ loose forwards. who dominated the breakdowns.
The scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: Grobbelaar, Gans 2, Van Zyl, Nortje
Cons: Steyn 4
Pens: Steyn 2
For Stormers:
Pens: Willemse 2
Teams:
Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Marco Jansen van Vuren.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 John Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi , 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Tim Swiel.
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron, Stuart Berry
TMO: Jaco Peyper
Comments on RugbyPass
As a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
2 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
20 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
6 Go to commentsWith three clubs it's surely death by oligopoly!😂 I suspect that other french clubs like Montpellier rich enough to compete, they are just missing some vital ingredients. Do you think that keeping an eight player bench but only being allowed to use four would level the playing field a bit? The 12 changes rule sounds disastrous for running rugby.
117 Go to commentsNice article
32 Go to commentsSurely they aren’t that short of 10s in the northern hemisphere?
1 Go to commentsBest wishes to a true warrior who gave everything for his team and country. He was no McCaw but the closest we've had in recent years in terms putting his head into dark places, leading the defensive line and securing the attacking breakdown - the core roles of a modern open side. If only he could have played more tests under Foster and Plumtree with blindsides who fulfilled their core roles. 2027 was always going to be a long shot. Hopefully Papalii fulfils the promise of 2021 and late 2022 and/or Lakai turns out to be as good as he looks.
6 Go to commentsFair play to him. A lot of exciting talent coming up in the loose forward position, can’t wait to see the next generation.
6 Go to commentsSam wants to focus on his family and learning how to tackle legally…what’s Japanese for ‘bend at the waist’?
6 Go to commentsNice story
1 Go to commentsThere's a log jam at the moment of quality number sevens competing for an All Black jersey. I think Du Plessis Kirifi is certainly one of them and has now developed an accurate sharp and energetic game as compared to when he was first picked. Would love to see Billy Harmon get first dibs at the jersey (been outstanding in a struggling side for a few seasons now), as I believe we've seen enough of Papali'i to understand what he brings to the role. Lakai is young and will get his shot. Du Plessis would be a bolt off the bench but his lack of versatility may hinder his chances.
3 Go to commentsGood Luck Sam, enjoy Japan.
6 Go to commentsWhen Sth Africa had Joost and Honiball at 9 and 10 they were almost impenetrable in and around the ruck. Even Jonah couldn't make headway in those channels so they were very hard to get in behind. They had a fantastic side who played a fast, rugged style which won them the Tri Nations during that period. That side would beat their current mob of which I have no doubt.
2 Go to commentsAwesome win by the NZ U20s. They were excellent in the 2nd half with some very patient and accurate phase play, a dominant scrum and decent lineout. Simpson controlled things very well at 10 and it was amazing to see the team maintain their composure and score points when he was in the sin bin for a very harsh yellow card.
2 Go to commentscome on Toulouse
1 Go to commentsNot unless the cartels get interested in rugby like they did w football
1 Go to commentsYes Dobbo, you were absolute crap. Start respecting the ball and possession. If you played rugby instead of basketball against the Ospreys, you would have been n the top two now, not fifth! If you attractively and entertainingly throw the ball around for 80 minutes and lose, WE DON’T FKN ENJOY IT!
1 Go to comments