While the down under TMO disgraced himself the Bulls had a good game. I liked their offloads and must say again Kriel's passing game has come on leaps and bounds.
Bulls have a lot of potential.
Ex S upersport
The Vodacom Bulls broke a four-year drought in Australia, beating the Western Force 42-20 in sparkling fashion in their Vodacom Super Rugby match in Perth on Friday.
The Bulls won for the first time in three years in the Antipodes, their last win being against the Blues in 2013, and before that winning a year earlier in Australia in 2012 against the Waratahs.
But while those records are something of the past, this Bulls side produced a performance worthy of taking notice of, scoring five tries to two away from home and laying down a marker for the rest of their Australian tour.
With the win they pulled level with their conference rivals, the DHL Stormers, although the Stormers will play one game extra against the Waratahs on Saturday and could pull clear again.
However, it brings into question the strength of the Australian conference since their top side has a negative points difference at the moment and the Force haven’t won their last five games, winning only one match this entire season.
Be that as it may, this was a mental block that the Bulls overcame, doing what they had to despite two iffy television match official (TMO) calls that should never have been given for the Force.
Take those away and the Bulls would have won all too easy as they dominated the set-pieces, and were by far the better side as they powered home in the second half.
Their talisman was Bok midfielder Jan Serfontein, who, along with captain Adriaan Strauss and fellow performers Hanro Liebenberg, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman and Trevor Nyakane, set the trend for a big Bulls win.
Labuschagne set the trend with a massive 18 tackles, followed closely by Marvin Orie with 11. The only Force performer was their perennial star Matt Hodgson making 13 tackles.
And while the Force still kept themselves in the game in the first half, they were blown away in the second as the Bulls took control.
The Force ironically opened the scoring with sustained pressure and a penalty in the first 10 minutes, but it was the last they would look anywhere in control in the game.
TMO CALL
The Bulls' mixture of power and precision, expansion and flair was enough to dissect their defence easily as they punched up the middle, found the hands with their offloads quickly enough to take control of the game.
It was one such offload – audacious in its execution – that brought their first try as the big frame of RG Snyman was felled by a tackle, but managed to pop the ball up as he went down for Hanro Liebenberg to burst through for the opening try.
For those who perennially complain about the boring Bulls brand of rugby, this was something different. Playing off the man, using offloads to break the line and expansive play the Bulls completely dismantled the Force attack with ease.
Francois Brummer added a penalty to stretch the lead before Ian Prior did a similar action to pull it back.
But then the Bulls showed just what they are capable of, and what so few of us ever see from this side as SP Marais took a ball within his own 22, launched a counter attack that spanned nine phases and went through several pairs of hands, only to eventually find Serfontein to burst over for his first try.
The Force hit back before halftime through a lineout-maul try by Matt Hodgson, which appeared from the one television replay offered to be short, but TMO Ian Smith of Australia awarded it anyway.
Another penalty before the end of the half saw the Bulls go into the sheds 18-13 up, but still looking vulnerable despite their dominance up front.
That all changed in the second half as they took control of the game. First Francois Brummer added a penalty after a powerful scrum demolished the Force up front and then Brynard Stander was dispatched to the sin bin for repeated team infringements as the Bulls powered their attack.
With the man advantage it didn’t take long for the Bulls to break the defence, with Serfontein running a beautiful line from close out to extend their lead even further.
Serfontein made the next try as he made the initial break, with Travis Ismaiel taking the ball up a long distance before SP Marais put in a perfect offload for Adriaan Strauss to score.
Strauss added the fifth with a clinical lineout maul to put the Bulls into the forties, and while the Force scored a late try to make the scoreline look a lot more respectable, this was all about the Bulls.
They now move onto Canberra where they will face the Brumbies, and if they can repeat the performance in the Australian capital, will underline themselves as genuine playoff competitors in this year’s competition.
