Bulls get the job done and keep hopes alive
BRILLIANT: Bulls’ Lappies Labuschagne scores a try against the Sunwolves ALL that could have been reasonably expected of the Bulls in this game was that they keep their Super Rugby hopes on a respirator. They predictably did so without any heavy breathing last night.
Their Super Rugby hopes are alive after a comfortable defeat of the competition’s bottom-placed side but their fortunes in a wider context really hinge on how the Sharks go about their business.
Last night the Bulls had to get the job done oblivious to what might transpire in Durban.
They did that and they were equally impervious to the sterile homeground environment in which they had to operate.
Loftus looked almost deserted last night but the Bulls ploughed on undeterred against opponents who only developed an appetite for a scrap in the second half.
The Bulls completely dominated the half-hour before the break but the fact that they could only add a try by captain Adriaan Strauss over the same timespan after half time must be disconcerting.
Still, they had built up a heavy cushion thanks to the heavy industry of Strauss and Lappies Labuschagne up front and the elusive running of Jamba Ulengo and Burger Odendaal in the backline, while even Piet van Zyl displayed livewire qualities.
However, it took a while for them to break into full stride in the first half. They had all the ball and territory in the opening 10 minutes but they proved prone to error when they got a sniff of the line.
Leftwing Ulengo looked full of promise every time he was put in possession and it was from his surge down the left flank that the Bulls engineered the opening try for Labuschagne.
The Sunwolves could not match the power and precision of the Bulls forwards. Strauss, rested last week after Bok duty for the away engagement against the Jaguares, looked invigorated.
The Bulls were rampant in that period leading into the break but it has to be noted that the Sunwolves’ defence was at times as mythical as the creature after which they were named. They abdicated responsibility on defence in patches in the first half although they applied themselves much better after the break.
Riaan Viljoen proved solid in the last line of defence, while stand-in captain and centre Harumichi Tatemkawa stood bravely in resistance in the midfield.
But they faded towards the end as Travis Ismaiel ran in a brace of tries to lend respectability to the score for the Bulls.
Labuschagne, Grant Hattingh, Werner Kruger and Marcel van der Merwe said goodbye to Loftus last night but such is the speed of the revolving door here that it all seemed to be a blur.