Bulls dance to a three-try Strauss waltz
Bulls (19) 33 Stormers (18) 23
SUCH days have been few and far between but former Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss rolled back the years as he celebrated being the most capped South African Super Rugby player with a hat-trick of tries to help his stuttering Bulls side to a 33-23 win over the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld.
It was by no means a vintage Strauss performance but the man who had looked to be cast into the rugby wilderness after his retirement from international rugby two years ago, showed there is still some bite left in the old dog on the day of his 151st appearance in his 13th season in the competition.
Strauss’ tries were vital in handing the hosts the lead from as early as the sixth minute but more importantly it was the two first half scores both from roiling mauls that underlined the home side’s dominance in the trenches.
And it was the hat-trick try, even though fortunate from a Stormers over-thrown lineout, that gave the Bulls an eight-point breathing gap and ensured the Cape side were always going to need to score twice to take the lead.
The Stormers did chance their hand at staging a secondhalf comeback with hard working captain Siya Kolisi crashing over the whitewash to bring his side within three points of the opposition.
But even with the visitors hoarding much of the possession in the latter stages of the match, they committed far too many errors.
While the Bulls were hanging on for dear life, they somehow managed to show the maturity and patience that has lacked in recent weeks by constantly driving the Stormers back and when they did have a chance to finish off the game they did so through Jesse Kriel’s 70th minute try.
Much of the hard graft in engineering their second win of the season had been in the first half hour of the game when the Bulls bossed the scrums and line-outs while Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard was menacing with ball in hand.
Pollard stamped his authority on proceedings through good decision-making and his appetite for confrontation, while his team-mates revelled in playing on home turf after three weeks of being away on tour. The Stormers, along with their star flyhalf Damian Willemse, showed a chink in their armour which had them chasing the game.
Willemse was with his kicking, wayward missing a penalty and two conversions while the Stormers only came into life in the last moments of the first half when Jan de Klerk and Damian de Allende scored to bring the visitors to within one point of the Bulls.
De Allende was at the heart of the Stormers fight back with his defence-splitting hard running, sudden turn of speed to chase and score his chip kick and he also showed an ability to put his outside backs away when the space allowed.
But the end of the day belonged to Strauss and Co. as they were finally rewarded for weeks of hard toil.
Bulls. Tries: Adriaan Strauss (3), Johnny Kotze, Jesse Kriel. Conversions: Handré Pollard (4)
Stormers. Tries: Jan de Klerk, Damian De Allende, Siya Kolisi. Conversion: Damian Willemse. Penalties: Willemse (2)