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The Bulls - by the skin of their teeth

Fri, 07 May 2010 21:16

Match winner: Francois Hougaard scores for the Bulls

What a match! What a finish! There was drama and controversy as, after the final siren, François Hougaard snatched up the ball and scored the try that won the match 40-35 for the Bulls against the Crusaders in Pretoria on Friday.

It was a try that annoyed and disappointed the Crusaders and set the Loftus Versfeld crowd shrieking in joy, but only after they had bitten their nails low.

The Crusaders got two bonus points from the match, keeping them in contention for a semifinal place.

Two points seemed so mingy after such a splendid effort.

For the Bulls, their 18th successive Loftus victory means they have, comfortably, a home semifinal. Home? Well, the Orlando Stadium in Soweto is not as far away as Christchurch.

The Crusaders were the Crusaders of old - running smoothly, simply, straight, quickly, using every opportunity they could to run with the ball. The Bulls were bewildered in a wildness, especially while Jacques-Louis Potgieter was playing in the unaccustomed position of outside centre. The Bulls could get no ball, they slipped tackles and their kicking was repeatedly injudicious. Within half an hour the Crusaders had three tries - three to nil. They tapped penalties and ran and set the Bulls spinning. They were going to run the Bulls ragged and for a lot of the first half they were ragged. Only the long boot of Morné Steyn kept them in touch.

Steyn got the scoring going when Ben Franks was penalised for a tip tackle on Danie Rossouw who was playing his 100th Super rugby match.  3-0 after a minute, the kick from just inside his own half. But soon the Crusaders were doing what they had planned to do. Andrew Ellis tapped a penalty and they were running and getting into tackles with zest. They won a turnover off Gerhard van den Heever. Off they went down the left where bulky hooker Ti'i Paulo cut inside Danie Rossouw and went down the touch-line past Victor Matfield.  to send Brad Thorn in for a try. 7-3 after 9 minutes.

The Bulls attacked from the kick-off and Rossouw toed the ball ahead but Wynand Olivier lost the ball.

Wyatt Crockett was penalised three times in the first half and was replaced by Owen Franks at half time, after which scrums were trouble-free. Steyn goaled two of the three scrum penalties, the first after 14 minutes to make the score 7-6, and then Dan Carter proved the old saying that class is permanent.

He has had an ordinary Super 14 then,. calmly, he did the ordinary extraordinarily well, breaking straight past Olivier and Werner Kruger and then passing inside to lively Andrew Ellis who had a straight run to the posts. 14-6 after 18 minutes

For a second time Rossouw tackled high and for that he was sent to the sin bin, no doubt disruptively but not expensively. In fact the Bulls were the ones to score after this when Steyn dropped a goal. 14-9 after 21 minutes.

Then the Crusaders scored a try, delicious in its simplicity. They won a line-out on the left and went right -  no long passes, no spin passes, no cutbacks, no head-down charging. They just passed to the man next to them and as the ball went wide the fullback passed to the left wing and he passed to the right wing and Sean Maitland had an unopposed run to score. 19-9 after 28 minutes.

Suddenly the Bulls surged. They got the ball and kept it. The Crusaders neglected a ball at the back of a tackle/ruck and Fourie du Preez snapped it up and gave it to Olivier who gave to Jacques-Louis Potgieter who have to Hougaard and the erstwhile scrumhalf sped down the left wing and inside Carter on a 60-metre run to score. 19-14 to the Crusaders after 31 minutes. It seemed out of joint that a team so beaten should be so close.

The Bulls improved on that when Steyn kicked a penalty against Crockett and then went into the lead. For once Colin Slade forsook the Crusaders' principle of counterattack and kicked. Pierre Spies started a counterattack which went left with Hougaard stepping and then went wide right with good work by Gary Botha who set Rossouw running till the big man turned the ball inside to Matfield  who surfed over for a try. This time Steyn converted. 24-19 to the Bulls at half-time. There was an air of unreality about the score.

As if stubborn and refusing the change, the Bulls kicked twice and twice the Crusaders put them under pressure with counterattacks. Carter missed a penalty but the Crusaders went though phases till Thorn burst ahead and Paulo broke through three to score under the posts. Carter converted and the Crusaders were back in the lead - 26-24 and a bonus point.

At this stage Stephan Dippenaar came in to outside centre and the Bulls' defence improved. They also went through phases till Richie McCaw won a turnover but then the great man tackled high and Steyn goaled. 27-26 with the Bulls in the lead again after 56 minutes.

The Bulls kicked and the  Crusaders came back. Carter lobbed over an easy dropped goal. 29-27 to the Crusaders after 57 minutes.

The Bulls mauled and Du Preez sent Gerhard van den Heever racing for the line. He was past Sam Whitelock and at the line, but upright and Zac Guildford grabbed him and miraculously prevented the young wing from grounding the ball. But the Bulls were attacking and McCaw was penalised at a tackle. 30-29 to the Bulls.

With seven minutes left Van den Heever was penalised and sin-binned for a severe tip tackle that may attract the interest of the citing commissioner. Carter goaled, and now the Crusaders led 32-30.

With five minutes to go, Steyn dropped a goal. 33-32 to the Bulls/.

Bandise Maku was on for Gary Botha and hurried a throw-in at the line-out which the Bulls messed up and Pedrie Wannenburg was penalised for offside at a knock-on inside the Crusaders half. Ellis tapped and the Crusaders ran. The referee insisted that Bees Roux keep his hands out of a tackle but the prop insisted on doing it his way. It was over 50 metres out but Carter goaled. 35-33 to the Crusaders.

With a minute to go, Steyn tried a drop from a scrum but was charged down. But the Bulls had the ball and suddenly they went left with Maku running in space, pulling two defenders onto him before he passed towards Hougaard on his left. Hougaard grabbed the ball and raced through for the try that won the match while the Crusaders protested that the pass was forward. The referee consulted his assistant who said that a red hand had knocked the ball back and the replay suggested that it was indeed Owen Franks's hand. This hectic action happened after the final siren and Steyn added the conversion to make the final score 40-35.

Man of the Match: Of the Bulls there was two-try François Hougaard. Of the Crusaders there were Colin Slade and lively Andrew Ellis and our choice of Man of the Match Daniel Carter, controlling the game in his calm, effective way. He has all the time in the world to play, for he is a sportsman out of the top drawer.

How the lead changed hands

2 mins: Bulls led 3-0
9 mins: Crusaders led 7-3
40 mins: Bulls led 24-19
47 mins: Crusaders led 26-24
56 mins: Bulls led 27-26
57 mins: Crusaders led 29-27
62 mins: Bulls led 30-29
73 mins: Crusaders led 32-30
75 mins: Bulls led 33-32
78 mins: Crusaders led 35-33
80 mins: Bulls led 40-35

Scorers:

For Bulls:
Tries: Hougaard 2, Matfield,
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 5
DGs: Steyn 2

For Crusaders:
Tries: Thorn, Ellis, Maitland, Paulo
Cons: Carter 3
Pens: Carter 2
DG: Carter

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 21 Stephan Dippenaar, 22 Pedrie Wannenburg.

Crusaders: 15 Colin Slade, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 George Whitelock, 5 Chris Jack, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Dan Perrin, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Tim Bateman, 22 Jared Payne.

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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