Bulls reign supreme over Reds in Battle of Loftus
SOMETIMES it was scrappy, sometimes it was lacklustre, sometimes it was fiery and sometimes it was tightly contested.
In the end it was the Bulls who emerged comfortable 43-22 winners over the Reds in the Battle of Loftus Versfeld last night.
Ordinarily, it is the front row or the loose trio who are in the frontline of the Bulls’ battles, but last night it was the back three of Bjorn Basson, Francois Hougaard and Jesse Kriel.
Kriel brought his A-game on the night. He evaded tackles en mass while gaining crucial ground. His tactical kicking was accurate, while his creative juices flowed freely in setting others into gaps, and his defence solid.
If there was any doubt about Basson’s form, what he showed last night is that he still reigns supreme in the high ball chase.
Hougaard added pace, flair and two valuable tries as the Bulls returned to winning ways.
There were some early fireworks exchanges as both sides began at high tempo, with the Bulls looking to expose the visitors on the counter.
This worked in the eighth minute as Kriel blitzed from his own 22-metre to offload just before crossing the opposition 22-metre to Hougaard, who did the rest of the work to score the opening try and his first of the match.
It did not take long for the Reds to reply with a five-pointer of their own through winger Lachie Turner.
The Bulls then stepped on the gas as the Reds faded for the remainder of the first half.
The home team added another two tries before the break, with Hougaard crossing over for his second and the other coming from captain Pierre Spies.
If the half-time score of 24-5 was to indicate anything, it was denoting that the Bulls aimed to repeat their feat from the Reds’ previous visits to Loftus when the Pretoria side handed them a 61-8 defeat, or the 92-3 mauling in 2007 at the Bulls’ kraal.
The Reds came out firing in the second half to prevent another similar embarrassment. They showed intent with three tries within 16 minutes, but the Bulls also showed some fight with more five-pointers of their own to take their tally to six.
With the win, the Bulls ensured that four of the five SA teams claimed victories over the weekend while also claiming the top spot in the SA Conference.
With Quade Cooper out for two months with a shoulder injury and James O’Connor carrying a calf strain, the Reds lacked heavily in the kicking department. Their next kicking option was winger Turner, who misfired, costing the visitors some valuable points.