The Bristol Bears walked away with the maximum log points on offer after inflicting a humiliating home defeat on the Bulls in their Champions Cup clash in Pretoria on Saturday.
Under new coach Johan Ackermann, the Bulls have now slumped to seven defeats on the trot, an unwanted streak they’ll want to break as soon as possible.
The result leaves the Bulls in a precarious position in Pool and in real danger of not qualifying for the knockout stage of the Investec Champions Cup.
FIRST HALF RECAP: FAST START FOR BRISTOL BEARS
The Bears knew they had to come out the blocks firing against the Bok-heavy Bulls, and three tries in the opening seven minutes helped them on their way. And by the 15th minute, they had scored a fourth to wrap up the bonus-point.
South African Benhard Janse van Rensburg opened the scoring for the visitors before Bristol’s front-row powerhouse Max Lahiff battled through from close range soon after.
Noah Heward then wriggled into space down the right for him to run it in from 25 metres out.
Bulls players and fans alike were then riled up as two more scores bookmarked Bristol’s fourth, before Jeandre Rudolph grabbed the hosts’ first, followed by Stravino Jacobs, who broke free on the wing for a second… all before the 20-minute mark.
Bristol’s Heward wasn’t finished though as he acrobatically touched down for the score of the half, reasserting the Bears’ dominance. Jacobs joined Heward on a brace not long later though as he dotted down the ninth try of the afternoon. Heward sealed his hat-trick late on as he won a 50-metre foot race to touch down again to give his side a 47-28 advantage.
That opening half showing was one of the Bulls’ weakest and most embarrassing defensive efforts in a long time.
SECOND HALF RECAP: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE FOR BULLS
David Kriel struck three minutes after the restart through some nifty moves down the left, but this wasn’t to set the tone for a half as high-scoring as the first.
Bristol then re-established the distance between themselves and the Bulls just before the hour mark when replacement Ellis Genge gained some valuable ground. Pedro Rubiolo was lying in wait to pick up and force his way over from short distance.
Things settled down as the half progressed, with some solid Tom Jordan kicking keeping the score ticking for Bears as they breached the 60-point mark.
It was an advantage that ultimately came in clutch late on, as a couple of late Bulls scores weren’t enough to bring it back.
While the grand total of 15 tries shared on a day that see both scoop a valuable bonus point, it is also an indictment on the terrible tackling and defence on offer at Loftus.
STATS, FACTS, NUMBERS AND CONCERNS THAT MATTER
While the final scoreline and margin of victory appear flattering for the Bristol Bears, the match statistics tell a different story.
Although the Bulls enjoyed a 54% share of possession compared to Bristol’s 46%, they made fewer tackles (101 to 110) and conceded more turnovers (16 to 11). In addition, the Bulls registered well over 10 line breaks but were unable to convert even half of them into meaningful outcomes. Taken together, these figures highlight a lack of discipline and defensive solidity from the Bulls.
Another major concern, from both a Bulls and Springbok perspective, is the form of Handré Pollard and Willie le Roux.
The double World Cup-winning pair, who remain vital cogs in their respective teams’ machines, had little to no impact on the contest. In fact, both players committed crucial errors that directly led to Bristol tries and ultimately helped the Bears build an unassailable lead.
