The Bulls nearly let it slip after a tremendous start, but coach Jake White praised the way that his team hung in and closed things out in their 31-19 United Rugby Championship bonus-point win over the Lions on Saturday.
The Pretoria side roared out of the blocks by scoring three tries in 13 minutes through Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux and Sebastian de Klerk, and it seemed as if they would steam-roll over their Gauteng neighbours.
But the Lions again showcased their never-say-die attitude, reducing the deficit to 17-14 at halftime through touchdowns by Henco van Wyk and PJ Botha.
That was despite the fact that the Bulls had the edge in the scrums, and were ferocious at the breakdowns as they stopped the Lions’ trademark attacking game in its tracks.
The home side regained their shape with ball-in-hand, with flyhalf Le Roux much steadier than in last week’s 29-19 loss to the Sharks, and it paid off for the third-placed Bulls.
They took charge in the third quarter as Springbok speedster Moodie and then flank Marco van Staden dotted down to make it 31-14.
“To get a win there like that, and to get a bonus point... Just before halftime, there was a disallowed try, which was held up – I thought it was a try,” White said in the post-match press conference.
“And that maybe would’ve given us more of a cushion. We missed two conversions, which are four points as well, and is just the way it is.
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“That’s one of the shortfalls of not having a recognised goal-kicker. It’s quite ironic, because the first 12 minutes was probably the best we’ve played in a long, long time against anybody.
“It looked at that point, 17-0 up, that it was going to be one-sided. So, to let them score two tries and make it 17-14 at halftime...
“They are a good team and they can score tries, and when they start running at you, it’s difficult to defend against them.
“They don’t go away, and let’s be fair: they had two or three tries there which were disallowed, and if they score those, then it’s a different pressure in the last 15 minutes.
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“I’m glad that we could get on top of them, because they are a difficult team to beat. They’ve got two really big games against the Sharks now, and they’ve done it at home by beating the Stormers.”
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Now the Bulls await the visit from the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld next Saturday, and their coach hopes that they will heed the lessons from the Lions encounter and back themselves a bit more.
They should also prevent the opposition from getting back into the game when they are in charge, and it took a stern talk from White to get them focused again in the second half against the Lions.
“It was a poor kick (from the Lions), and I would’ve loved Emmy (Embrose Papier) to back himself there and see how far he can get down field (instead of kicking it back, which led to Van Wyk’s try),” the Bulls boss said.
“From that, we didn’t only concede seven (points), but a yellow card (to Stedman Gans) as well, which put us under the pump for a while as well.
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“Those are the things that frustrate me, because we’ve almost got them by the throat and about to put them out, and then we go and do something like that.
“Just no control. It’s no one’s fault. We don’t find touch and the clock’s against them, and we do it again – those are coach-killers.
“But no Marcell (Coetzee), Elrigh (Louw), Ruan (Nortjé), our captains, and we seem to sort of get quiet when that happens. That’s what I’m working hard on: that’s the time when you must talk the most.
“We just tried to make it so difficult for ourselves, and what I’m really happy about is that after doing that, I had a chat with them at halftime and we sort of tightened up again.
“And I put that down to Willie. You guys put a lot of media time into is he a 10? But it’s irrelevant what position he is the best at.
“For me and our group, I need him to be close and to control things.”
Points-Scorers
Bulls 31 – Tries: Canan Moodie (2), Willie le Roux, Sebastian de Klerk, Marco van Staden. Conversions: David Kriel (3).
Lions 19 – Tries: Henco van Wyk, PJ Botha, Richard Kriel. Conversions: Gianni Lombard (2).