Cape Town – “It’s a massive relief – relief for the players inside the group. They didn’t want to come here and lose another game, so I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of the way they stuck together this week, and the way we trained.”
That was how Bulls coach Jake White described the mood in the change room after his team produced a sensational second-half comeback to register a 44-22 bonus-point win in Friday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Benetton in Treviso.
It was a welcome triumph after defeats to Glasgow and Munster in the first two weeks of the tour.
The Bulls were trailing 9-3 at halftime after an error-ridden opening 40 minutes where they lost lineouts, conceded a few scrum penalties and battled to find their rhythm on attack – due to either a knock-on, forward pass or wrong decision with ball-in-hand.
Even the usually excellent Kurt-Lee Arendse dropped a simple catch that developed into an offside penalty and resulted in three points to the home side, and the defence had to scramble after being beaten out wide.
But the Pretoria side stormed back early in the second half through tries by Ruan Nortje and Elrigh Louw, while captain Marcell Coetzee and fellow flank Marco van Staden combined with veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis to dominate the breakdowns.
Benetton hit back through a touchdown from Manuel Zuliani, while sharp-shooter Tomas Albornoz landed a fifth penalty to put the hosts 22-20 ahead with 22 minutes left.
The Bulls got a second wind, though, with Chris Smith booting them back ahead with a three-pointer, and then they went on the rampage in the last 10 minutes as Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Coetzee and Stravino Jacobs crossed the whitewash – and master kicker Morné Steyn landed some outstanding touchline conversions.
“The smile has always been on my face! I’ve been trying to tell you guys: we’ll get it right. This is a tough tour. The second half was fantastic. We had lots of chances in the first half – we just didn’t finish them off,” White said afterwards.
“It’s a massive relief – relief for the players inside the group. They didn’t want to come here and lose another game, so I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of the way they stuck together this week, and the way we trained.
What happens when you hear you are ranked #81 in the URC Top 100 👊
Where will Ruan Nortje rank at the end of the season? 🐃@Vodacom #URC | #BENvBUL @BlueBullsRugby pic.twitter.com/fP1HXQRUVA
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) October 21, 2022
“Now they get some return on the way they put effort in. In the first half, we had our chances. We kept them out and they didn’t score a try, and we defended unbelievably well. But I got the feeling that we played all the rugby in our own half – and not because we wanted to, but they were squeezing us in our own half.
“In the second half, we got rewards by making line-breaks and putting their defence under pressure. I thought our defence tonight was outstanding, because we put them under pressure and got lots of turnovers at the breakdown and in the tackle.
“It’s wonderful that we can finish off with 41 points in the second half and a bonus-point win, because it’s a tough place to play.
“So, I’m really happy and proud. This Bulls side is a proud team, and we probably didn’t play our best rugby in the last two weeks.”
But the joy of the victory at Stadio Monigo was offset by No 8 Elrigh Louw’s injury right at the end of the match. The Bok loose forward was injured in the maul that led to Wessels’ try, and was carried off after Jacobs’ touchdown by Du Plessis and Reinhardt Ludwig with ice on his right ankle.
“We are going to scan it when we get back to the hotel. He said he heard something ‘go’ – which, and it sounds weird, but that’s not a bad thing because generally when you get a syndesmosis (ankle sprain), you don’t really hear anything… and that’s like an eight-week injury,” White said.
Morné Steyn doing Morné Steyn things 🤩#BKTURC #URC | #BENvBUL @BlueBullsRugby pic.twitter.com/YAdB7bpu6U
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“So, hopefully it’s not too serious. If it’s something that we can give a bit of time and get him back on the field… I very much doubt he will be available to run on Monday, but we’ve got one game (against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld next Sunday) and then four weeks off.
“If he misses the next game, maybe by the end of the November month, he could be available.”
Points-Scorers
Benetton 22 – Try: Manuel Zuliani. Conversion: Tomas Albornoz (1). Penalties: Albornoz (5).
Bulls 44 – Tries: Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marcell Coetzee, Stravino Jacobs. Conversions: Chris Smith (2), Morné Steyn (3). Penalties: Smith (3).
