(12) 17 ‘Specmagic’ helps quell Rebels
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(17) 32
equally strange. But these are just sideline stories as the Bulls will only care about the result which keeps their play-off hopes alive.
The win was the second stunning upset in a few hours after the Jaguares earned an impressive away win over the Hurricanes to top the South African conference briefly.
The Bulls then leapfrogged the Jaguares to reclaim the lead in a congested conference.
The Rebels started at a frenetic pace hoping to run the Bulls rampant which bore fruit with winger Marika Koroibete scoring his first of two tries eight minutes into the encounter.
But the Bulls responded almost immediately with Pollard sending a cross-kick into the hands of an awaiting Cornal Hendricks on the right wing for his five-pointer.
The Bulls worked hard for their second try, mauling their way across the advantage line with André Warner making a blindside break before offloading to Specman.
A few phases later Pollard took on the defence, finding his away over the whitewash and converting his try.
The Rebels closed the deficit again with an unconverted try courtesy of Will Genia before Pollard kicked a penalty goal on the halftime whistle to make it 17-12.
The hosts drew level shortly after the break with Koroibete scoring in the 43rd minute with Quade Cooper missing another conversion kick.
With just over 20 minutes left in the match, Specman introduced his magic with a break down the line before chipping over the defence.
Showing incredible awareness he collected the ball and dropped to the ground before the defenders could get to him, offloading to a speeding Burger Odendaal who cut inside to score. Specman was finally rewarded with a try of his own with 10 minutes to go with the Bulls’ backline showing a collection of super skills to get the flyer over the line.
Blocked by Genia, replacement scrumhalf Embrose Papier torpedoed the ball through his legs to Odendaal. Warrick Gelant sent a long, looping pass to Specman who dived over in the corner with Pollard adding another penalty goal five minutes later to put the game to bed.