Missed the game but here is a report:
The Vodacom Bulls slumped to their third defeat on tour – and their 10th in a row overseas – as they watched their playoff hopes slip further away with a disappointing 22-16 loss against the Brumbies in Canberra.
In a game that would have frustrated most Bulls fans with the single-mindedness of the Bulls attack and their inability to break down the Brumbies defence, the Brumbies scored three tries to one and won the game convincingly even though the scoreline makes it look a lot closer.
It leaves the Bulls with just two games left and if the DHL Stormers and Emirates Lions win this weekend, almost no chance of winning the South African conference. In fact, they now need to win their last two games to have a chance of sneaking into the playoffs, and a number of results need to go their way as well.
Considering that attack coach and lock Victor Matfield said before the tour that the Bulls need to adopt an attacking mindset on tour if they want to have success, there are real concerns that in none of the three games thus far on tour they have had that attacking mindset. (THE POOR BULLE HAVING WEE MATFIELD AT LOCK AND ALSO AS AN ATTACK COACH. HE IS CLEARLY NOT CAPABLE OF BOTH THESE ROLES DISPITE WHAT HIS STARRY EYED GROUPIES SAY)
As in their losses to the Chiefs and Blues, the Bulls over-relied on their driving maul – the one aspect of their game that has brought them success, and again grabbed them a try on the night with the move – it was a sole bystander in a game which nowadays demands so much more on attack.
To signal that it was in any way acceptable at this level would be a travesty to those who believe in the purity of the game, and the Bulls simply continued their stubborn approach time after time without any thought of trying anything different.
And while the Brumbies have to be applauded for their defence, it becomes pretty easy to defend against an attack that simply does the same thing over and over again.(FIRE WEE MATFIELD AND LOUBCHER THEY ARE FAILING DISMALLY!!)
The Bulls actually held a 6-0 lead halfway through the first half through two penalties by Handre Pollard, but from there it was pretty much all downhill for them as they failed to grasp what was needed to break their losing streak – one which stretches back to 2012 in Australia and 2013 overseas in the competition. (i CALL IT THE BLUE CALVES COMPLEX. iF ONLY THEY WOULD ATTEMPT TO EMULATE THE MIGHTY STORMERS)
If you were looking for a reason why the Bulls struggled to get any points, statistics tell a rather startling story – the Bulls carried the ball 70 times but made only 62 passes in the game – with only one clean break, but 18 turnovers. Not only did the Bulls lack imagination on attack, they kept to their single-minded theory and paid the price in turnovers.
It didn’t take long for the Brumbies, through a David Pocock turnover, to punch up the middle. With the Bulls defence scrambling, it was left to Jordan Smiles, the replacement lock, to take the telling pass and go over untouched for the first try.
At 8-6 at halftime, it was clear this game would be an arm-wrestle for both sides, but the Bulls even went ahead through a third Pollard penalty in the 43rd minute. And that’s when their hopes of winning the game fell apart.
Henry Speight received a ball two minutes later off the back of a lineout, stepped Pollard and handed him off, then a split second later did the same to JJ Engelbrecht to run through for an individual try, one that the Bulls wouldn’t recover from.
Twelve minutes later the Brumbies were on attack again, and sealed the game with a try to Speight – his second – thanks to the ball being moved quickly wide. Speight handed off Engelbrecht for a second time with such ease that it underlined the midfielder’s poor game and sealed the victory for the home side.
Lappies Labuschagne scored off the rolling maul near the end of the game to give the Bulls some last hope of victory. But in essence they had lost it long before with their single-minded approach, one that was so easy to counter.
OBVIOUSLY LUDEKE BLUNDERED BY APPOINTING WEE MATFILED AS ATTACK COACH. hE AND WEE MATFILED SHOULD TRY COACHING AT VARSITY CUP LEVEL IF ANYONE WOULD HAVE THEM! BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
O U CERUDUNCE WINDPOMP MUST BE WONDERING WHATS HAPPENED.
SCORERS
BRUMBIES – tries: Henry Speight (2), Jordan Smiles. Conversions: Christian Lealiifano (2). Penalty: Lealiifano.
BULLS – try: Lappies Labuschagne. Conversion: Handre Pollard. Penalties: Pollard (3).
