Scratch Bulls side blows wee hurricanes away

This was an inexperienced side and they actually dominated the game as the stats show.

Mitchell has taught the Bulle to pass the ball/offload and they were a revelation. I liked the replacement Bulls scumhald and when you add in Gelant and Ulengo they will have a dangerous backliine. 

Snyman was very good and Kriel made many a goofster eat crow! Pierre Schoeman was industrious and Pollard played well until leaving the filed and one hopes he in not injured.

Hats off to Mitchell and one wonders how much more he can improve the Bulle.

Wher does this leave kiwi chest beating blowhards. With loads of EGG. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

John Mitchell’s tasted success in his first game in charge of the Vodacom Bulls as the side defied the odds to down the Hurricanes 21-19 in an absorbing Vodacom Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld.

There was an element of adventure, of determination and a willingness to explore avenues hardly ever seen by the home side at Loftus as the young Bulls side shifted gears and refused to give in to their more fancied opposition.

Given the past few seasons at Loftus the Bulls are a far cry from their 2010 heydays, but they are moving in that direction.

This side already showed more panache and flair than the Bulls of the past few seasons and were rewarded for their grit with a narrow victory.

Make no mistake, this team still needs to travel a far way to taste Super Rugby glory, but in their performance against a side known for their flair and determination, the enthusiasm to chase the space on the field played a vital role in their victory.

It was wonderful to see the likes of the lock pairing of RG Snyman and Lood de Jager leading by example, with both breaking the line and causing havoc in the Hurricanes defence.

Snyman, in particular, was a revelation and deserving of the man of the match award.

But it didn’t stop there. In Roelof Smit, the Bulls have a fetcher to trouble opposition and his workrate in particular was impressive, while Handro Liebenberg and Thembelani Bholi both put in good displays.

Out wide it was good to see Jesse Kriel operate with a new-found freedom, while Handre Pollard directed matters in exceptional fashion against quality opposition.

Still, while it may be too early to say this is a new dawn for the Bulls – they face a tougher task against the Emirates Lions next weekend – it certainly showed a new direction of thinking, a new approach to attack the space instead of the defender, and to play a high-paced game that is closer to the New Zealand model than what the Bulls have played in the past.

There were several times that the Bulls caused the Canes trouble by offloading close to the ball carrier, punching forward as they found the gaps in the defence and if this is developed further they could see their mobile forwards being a lot sharper in the coming weeks.

But there were also those moments where the Bulls paused all too often, and they will need to tighten things up because as the Hurricanes showed, a brief sniff is turned into points in this competition.

SPECIAL MOMENTS

Still when last did a South African side outscore the opposition in terms of offloads, and carry the ball more? On both counts the Bulls won the stats battles, and with some distance.

The Bulls started well, taking the fight to the Canes and came close twice, before Kriel sent the skip pass out to Johnny Kotze to score in the corner.

A penalty by Handre Pollard extended the lead to 8-0 before the Canes struck back, surprisingly through an easy-looking lineout drive that saw hooker Ricky Riccitelli go over for the score.

The class of the Canes came to the fore when offered the briefest of chances as Wes Goosen chipped over the defence and collected for a superb individual try.

Pierre Schoeman left the field with a yellow card for a swinging arm, lucky not to receive more for his actions, but it didn’t matter.

Snyman used the moment to his advantage, and first broke, only to fluff the try with a back-flip that stopped the movement. He was denied again a few minutes later when he went over but the TMO said the ball had been knocked on earlier.

But then, still with 14 men on the park, he broke again, giving Lood de Jager a try in the corner.

To see two two-metre giants loping down the field in tandem is something special. To see them outstrip a New Zealand side that is known for pace and power, is equally special.

But the special moments didn’t stop there.

The Bulls fell behind when Beauden Barrett, World Rugby player of the year, appeared on the field and scored almost immediately.

And with the clock ticking down, Pollard pulled a rabbit out of the hat, charging down Ihaia West’s chip and kicking it forward. Kriel hunted down Ardie Savea and Travis Ismaiel was superb in driving over the ball.

With the ball won it went wide to Schoeman, who atoned for his earlier error with a crucial try that won the game.

The Bulls used the clock well in the end, taking the win with a composed closure and ensuring the smiles are back at Loftus again.

Settle down. They won by 2 points. Hardly blown away LOL. Canes were unluckey their. Peranaras try should of been a try. I guess home officiating huh. 

Luke 

It was a very competitive game and either side could  have won same,   I think that the Bulls won the game fair and square, but what to my mind is of importance is the vast improvement in their performance they have shown since the appointment of Mitchell as their coach.

However, there is one other point to bear in mind and that is that the Hurricanes are poor travelers and tend  to lose matches away from home.   I can remember that they beat the Lions in Johannesburg with ease  and then went on to lose by a big margin the next round  - so I do not think that they have all that much of  a problem as a result of their loss yesterday,

I was one of the very few participants who said that the Bulls would win - so there must have been some method on my reasoning on the issue.     

Luke 

It was a very competitive game and either side could  have won same,   I think that the Bulls won the game fair and square, but what to my mind is of importance is the vast improvement in their performance they have shown since the appointment of Mitchell as their coach.

However, there is one other point to bear in mind and that is that the Hurricanes are poor travelers and tend  to lose matches away from home.   I can remember that they beat the Lions in Johannesburg with ease  and then went on to lose by a big margin the next round  - so I do not think that they have all that much of  a problem as a result of their loss yesterday,

I was one of the very few participants who said that the Bulls would win - so there must have been some method on my reasoning on the issue.     

Early days but the Bulls offloading game was very good. Forwards interacting with backs, timed offloads and supporting runners. It does raise questions why players can suddenly pass and catch, draw defenders and time runs into space. 

Mitchell has got off to a good start but it is early days in the tournament so far with early form often not much of an indication. Additionally, many All Blacks start the seasons slowly and peak as the tournament goes on. The 3 Barratts have to be unleashed

that was a very clear try,... and this shouldn't happen

but the hurricanes didn't deserve to win,... they played crap,... unstructured, poor defense,.... but 2 years ago they were also dreadful the first round against the brumbies and end up winning the comp,... they have to improve big way if they want to repeat it

So Mozart

You know you are a damn idiot as per normal.   The score indicated that you try and mask your  continuous attacks on Mitchell by making a fool  of. yourself.    

You obviously did not watch the game and came up with a mock reason to disregard the improved performances of the Bulls.   They did improve in their performance as a team whether you like it or not.  

And they played a style of game that was foreign to your disjointed concept of rugby.               

The real truth is garbled again.   The truth is that the effect of jet lag is much less severe flying from east to  west than it is the other way around.  Go and study the issue and then come up with the truth,   From historical records record on rugby matches it is proven  that jet lag is more severe in the second games than in the first     

So you saw one segment of a game and then make a judgement based  on one incident - the other one where a Bulls try was disallowed you  missed out on.

Why do you comment om a game you have not watched?   But that is typical of you and can expect nothing better from you,

Snyman also had a try disallowed. It was also clearly a try. If it were hometown reffing then that try would have stood.

In fact Rasta missed three forward passes from the Canes in a row. One of them drifting very clearly forward across the halfway line. There were a good few occasions when he made decisions against the Bulls that a hometown ref would have let slide.

The Canes loss was more down to ring rust and slow starting than the reffing. 

They also seemed a little bewildered by the rush defence. How long before other SA teams sit up and take notice.

TJs pass into a quickly retreating Kriel was just poor sportsmanship. I've seen Owens threaten to send players off for trying to force penalties in that way. Players are always retreating and if one can get a penalty every time you manage to hit one of them with the ball then it becomes a farce. Rasta fell for it. The Bulls should have capitalised and done the same after the precedent had been set.

Then there was also the ball being stomped out of a Bulls player's hand. Owens penalised an English player for that last night while Rasta watched the same happen and did nothing. The incidents were identical. Kolisi in the past had a yellow card and a penalty try given against him for doing it accidentally while trying to get his foot under the ball in the in goal area.

Possibly a flash in the pan from the Bulls last night. They may still disappoint this season. But I don't think it's fair to give e the ref the credit for the win.

The same happened to the SA teams over years and other NZ teams as well.  

Here are some cases:

Hurricanes beat the Lions easily and a week later sustained a big loss against the Sharks

Lions beat Chiefs and the next week lost against the Highlanders

Crusaders easily beat the Bulls and a week later drew against the Cheethahs

Reds beat the Sharks and the next week lost against the Cheetahs

Highlanders easily beat the Sharks and the next week lost against the Stormers

Fact is the issue was a topic for discussion in the case of inexplicable losses in succceeding weeks when stronger teams were beaten and the next week losses against weaker teams were encountered.   When considering this one has to bear in mind the relative log positions of the stronger and weaker teams.

If you have only seen one clip of he game you should not get involved in discussions - we know you judge careers and games on one incident in matches in some cases when it refers to your pet hate players and ignore same in the case of others - but that kind of participation in discussions should not happen.   The incident  you referred to was followed by  a series of attacks by the Hurricanes resulting in the Barrett try,   So even though that try was disallowed - would the Barrett try happened just about 10 minutes later?

The Hurricanes led in the game until the Schoeman score.

Another issue to be considered is that not one of the three Bulls tries were converted  meaning a potential loss of 6 points.   Pollard converted to sitter penalties,  but he missed to try conversions and Rossouw missed the third one.   So the Bulls goal kicking was a factor too.             

It is only fools who would comment on matches thy have not seen and you remain that type of fool.  

Plum

You missed out on another issue - after the Barrett try the Hurricanes never got into the Bulls 22 once in the remainder of the game.- so if the Perenara "try" was awarded would the same not have happened?

I am afraid it is an excuse to nurture hurt ego's and an excuse for the loss had to be found.

My problem with Mozart is that he is what I call a one-incident moron and his comment on that issue is in the same vein.   

Oh cry me a river.

They cleaned your clock and that's all there is to it.

I'm surprised Hakwazee isn't  here crying foul as he usually does.

Take it on the chin for a change, you bunch of wimps.