The Vodacom Bulls wrapped up their Vodacom Super Rugby pre-season warm-up game with an impressive six try 39-26 win by the Vodacom Blue Bulls over English Premiership club Saracens in London on Saturday.
While Saracens were without their English players – who were preparing for next weekend’s Six Nations – they were comprehensively beaten by a Bulls side that was focused and determined to get the result from the game.
And while the scoreline looks a lot closer, the Bulls dominated much more, letting in some late tries after being 32 / 7 up on the hour mark in the game.
After their win over the Toyota Cheetahs last weekend in Polokwane, this was just as satisfying for coach Frans Ludeke as his team managed to put on a dominant performance away from home and look ready for their first game against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on Valentine’s day.
If there was one sticky point to look at – the Bulls were repeatedly penalised at the scrum, even though it seemed as if Saracens’ loosehead was scrumming in – and after their lacklustre scrumming performance against the Cheetahs, this area still remains a worry for the Pretoria side.
Having said that, the appearance of Adriaan Strauss back at the side will make a difference, with the Bulls likely to name a strong side when they start the competition.
While the injury to Marcel van der Merwe – who hobbled off after Piet van Zyl accidentally clashed with his knee – is a concern, but hopefully not too much of a concern with the prop likely to be evaluated when he gets back to South Africa.
But on the positive side Bulls’ captain Pierre Spies played for close to a half hour without incident, looked hungry and even scored a try, the perfect return after an 18 month hiatus because of injury.
Jacques du Plessis was a monster at lock, looking for work all the time, and receiving a number of bullocking runs in the process, leaving Saracens flyhalf Charlie Hodgson cringing in having to tackle him, while 19-year old Hanro Liebenberg also turned in a second successive impressive performance at eight after his work in Polokwane last weekend.
Grant Hattingh put in another workhorse performance, while Lappies Labuschagne, Francois Hougaard (at wing especially), Jesse Kriel, Jurgen Visser and the midfield combination of Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht all looked good.
With Saracens dominating the opening minutes, the Blue Bulls moved to their tried and trusted rolling maul to get the ascendancy, with Deon Stegmann touching down first, before a second maul saw Hougaard break away close to the line to get his try in. Add a late penalty from Jacques-Louis Potgieter and the 13 / 0 lead at the break was not only deserved, but also a tad flattering to the home side.
The second half started with Visser dotting down in the corner after a big Du Plessis run, with Liebenberg adding a try of his own shortly afterwards. A beautiful blindside break by saw Engelbrecht break free of a defender before sending the ball inside to Spies, who finished the try off like a pro.
Roelof Smit made sure of the win in the late stages, killing off a comeback with tries by Neil de Kock and Ernst Joubert, and giving the Bulls the perfect gift as they head home and into a week off before they start preparing for the Stormers game.
Scorers:
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
- Tries: Deon Stegmann (1), Francois Hougaard (1), Jurgen Visser (1), Hanro Liebenberg (1), Roelof Smit (1), Pierre Spies (1)
- Conversions: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (1), Handre Pollard (2)
- Penalties: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (1)
Saracens:
- Tries: Chris Wyles (1), Neil de Kock (1), Ernst Joubert (1), Jackson Wray (1)
- Conversions: Charlie Hodgson (3)
SuperSport