The Vodacom Bulls ran in a mammoth seven tries as they proved too strong for the visiting Ospreys in round 8 of the 2022/23 season of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. In the end, Jake White’s herd were victors with a 43-26 bonus point win over the Welsh side.
The fixture was delayed by 30 minutes due to highveld thunderstorms but not even that could dampen the Pretoria outfit’s run, in front of some 12 124 supporters in the stands.
Having dominated proceedings for the opening half, the Vodacom Bulls went into the break leading 31-14. Securing a bonus point having run in four tries through a David Kriel double, WJ Steenkamp, Elrigh Louw and another from Nizaam Carr.
BBCo Director of Rugby, Jake White said the opening half was clinical, praising David Kriel and Nizaam Carr’s ability to influence the game.
“David put in a great performance, throughout the game and probably came short of winning the man of the match award too. In the end that went to a deserving Nizaam, who said at the time when we signed him, he will thank us (for this opportunity) with the performances on the field and what better way to do so, (than) in his first game? It is good to have that experience; from the senior players, we have recruited.”
Upon return, in the second stanza, the Welsh side continued with their impressive sparks seen in the later parts of the first half, breaching the Vodacom Bulls’ defence a couple of times as they tried to stay in the game. However, their hosts, had other ideas adding a further two tries in the second stanza, as captain Ruan Nortje and Scrumhalf Zak Burger put vanishing touches to the game.
Commenting on the Vodacom Bulls’ second half, White said: “When you look back at the game, we made substitutions early, which maybe saw us lose a bit of rhythm and cohesion, but we wanted to give guys enough game time. So, we perhaps weren’t gelled enough in the second half as we were in the first, but I had to give the guys a fair crack because it wouldn’t be fair to be that far ahead in the game and not give them a good run at game time,”
“We also made changes to the front row and we weren’t as dominant in the second half as we were in the first but we were brilliant in our set pieces. That adds a bit more to our attack, which helps us going forward,”
“Overall, we played well but gave them pockets into the match. We almost (by two mistakes) allowed them to stay in our 22 and they gained confidence which led to their try. As the game went on, they grew also in confidence,”
“We immediately acknowledged that we were a bit soft on defence immediately after the match. Even though we were brilliant in defending our try line, we need to see that resilient defending halfway as well” concluded the Vodacom Bulls mentor.
SCORES:
VODACOM BULLS
Tries: David Kriel – 2, Nizaam Carr – 1, WJ Steenkamp – 1, Elrigh Louw – 1, Ruan Nortje – 1 and Zak Burger – 1
Conversions: Chris Smit – 3; Morne Steyn – 1
OSPREYS
Tries: Jack Walsh – 1, Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler – 1, Kieron Williams – 1 and Rhys Henry – 1
Conversions: Jack Walsh – 3
VODACOM BULLS STARTING XV:
1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Bismarck Du Plessis, 3. Francois Klopper, 4. Janko Swanepoel, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Nizaam Carr, 7. Wj Steenkamp, 8. Elrigh Louw, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 14. David Kriel, 15. Wandisile Simelane
VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD:
16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Ruan Vermaak, 20.Cyle Brink, 21. Zak Bruger, 22. Morne Steyn, 23. Marco Jansen van Vuren
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Nollis Marais – Breakdown, Russell Winter – Forwards, Chris Rossouw – Backs, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr Herman Rossouw – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist
