Bulls shoot down Ospreys, move into third place
The Bulls’ impressive home run in the United Rugby Championship (URC) this season continued when they put the tough Ospreys to the sword at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Jake White-coached Bulls defeated their Welsh visitors 4326 and moved up to position three in the overall URC standings.
The Bulls have enjoyed great success at Loftus this season, winning all four of their home matches.
Other teams that have fallen in Pretoria this edition are Edinburgh, Connacht and the Bulls’ fierce domestic rivals the Sharks.
White will hope that this home run lasts as it could be key in their mission to lift the URC title for the first time.
Last season, the Pretoriabased franchise fell at the final hurdle, losing to the Stormers in Cape Town in the climax of the tournament that pits southern hemisphere sides against their foes from up north.
The men from Pretoria have not done that badly on the road so far, with two wins and two defeats that came against the Glasgow Warriors and Munster in Europe.
Against the Ospreys, the Bulls made a powerful start, scoring seven tries and making it hard for the visitors to stage a comeback despite threatening to in the second half.
The Bulls led 31-14 at the break.
The hosts’ tries were scored by David Kriel, who crossed the whitewash twice, Nizaam Carr, WJ Steenkamp, Elrigh Louw, Ruan Nortje and Zak Burger.
Jack Walsh, Tiaan Thomaswheeler, Kieron Williams and Rhys Henry all scored for the Ospreys to ensure they at least got a losing bonus point out of the clash.
Bulls’ players such as Wandisile Simelane, Lionel Mapoe and Harold Vorster were impressive.
The team’s all-round performance gives a lot of hope ahead of the European Champions Cup which starts early in December.
Even more impressive was that they were without their Springbok players — and that can only mean they will be even more dangerous when they have them back.
With both the URC and the Champions Cup running concurrently, squad depth is going to be crucial, especially for the South African franchises as they will be playing in the tougher Champions Cup for the first time.
The Bulls will welcome Cardiff at Loftus next weekend while the following weekend they kick off their Champions Cup campaign against Lyon in Pretoria on Saturday, December 10.
With the Bulls and Stormers having managed good results against the Ospreys and Scarlets, all eyes will be on the Sharks and Lions on Sunday as the SA vs Wales URC battle continues.
The Lions will take on the Dragons at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Sunday (4pm).
The Sharks, who will be looking to return to winning ways after losing to the Bulls in the previous game, have a meeting with Cardiff in Durban at 6.10pm.
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