Bulls 53
Connacht 27
CONNACHT WERE BROUGHT crashing back to earth in sweltering altitude at Loftus Versfeld as they were crushed by seven tries to three by a rampant Bulls side.
It was always going to be a tall order for Pete Wilkins’ men but they didn’t help their cause with a string of basic errors as they tried to back up their win over the Sharks in Durban last weekend.
The Bulls had the bonus point in the bag by the break they after ruthlessly punished sloppy mistakes by a Connacht side who struggled in the heat at altitude.
An early exchange of penalties from Jack Carty and Jaco van der Walt was followed by the Bulls hitting for two tries, the first after Carty kicked long and direct to touch from his own half after 12 minutes, and then eight minutes later when scrum-half Colm Reilly knocked on from a lineout inside their own half.
They were made pay on both occasions with hooker Akker van der Merwe scoring down the right after four passes off scrum, while flanker Wilco Louw punished sloppy defending when he made the most of a no-pillar ruck to skip over from close range.
The conversion pushed them 15-3 in front at the end of the opening quarter and they could have been further clear had they punished another failed Connacht lineout inside their own half. A kick direct to touch from Byron Ralston gave the Bulls good field possession from 35 metres and they extended their lead several phases later with a penalty from van der Walt.
Carty pulled back a penalty nine minutes from time on a rare visit to the Bulls red zone, but from the restart, the South Africans struck again when scrum-half Zak Burger stepped inside debutant No8. Sean Jansen and set up his captain Ruan Nortje for an easy try.
Connacht were given a lifeline when David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde combined to send winger Diarmuid Kilgallen over for a fine try in the left corner which Carty converted from the touchline to cut the gap to 23-13.
But the Bulls hit again before the break when Springbok World Cup winner Willie le Roux crowned his debut and netted the bonus point after the Connacht rearguard was again shredded.
Connacht, having started the second half with over three minutes of surges, got a break when a counter-attack try from Burger was disallowed and hooker van der Merwe was binned for a hand on Reilly at the back of a ruck. Connacht made the most of the break with hooker Tadhg McElrouy scoring a few phases after going to the left corner.
Carty converted to cut the gap to 32-20 but that was as close as they got. Replacement Conor Oliver was binned for offside just as the Bulls went back to 15 and they pulled away with tries from No.8 Nizaam Carr, centre David Kriel, and replacement out-half Chris Smith taking them past the 50-point mark.
Shamus Hurley-Langton got over from a tapped penalty after 78 minutes as Connacht then pressed for a try bonus point but in the final play, with a penalty advantage as Connacht pressed forward, referee Gianluca Gnecchi reversed the penalty, possibly for some dissent, and a disappointing performance ended on a dismal note.
Scorers for the Bulls:
- Tries: Van der Merwe, W Louw, Nortje, Le Roux, Kriel, Carr, C Smith.
- Cons: Van der Walt (5 from 6).
- Pens: Van der Walt (2 from 2).
Scorers for Connacht:
- Tries: Kilgallen, McElroy, Hurley-Langton.
- Cons: Carty (2 from 2), Hanrahan (1 from 1).
- Pens: Carty (2 from 2).
BULLS Willie le Roux; Sebastian de Klerk, Stedman Gans (Canan Moodie ‘58), David Kriel, Sergeal Petersen; Jaco van der Walt (Chris Smith ‘71), Zak Burger (Embrose Papier ’56); Gerhard Steenekamp (Simphiwe Matanzima ‘56), Akker van der Merwe (Jan-Hendrik Wessels ’34-40), Wilco Louw (Mornay Smith ‘57); Reinhardt Ludwig, Ruan Nortje (c) (Janko Swanepoel ‘45); Marco van Staden (Wessels 48-55, Elrigh Louw (Cyle Brink ‘67), Nizaam Carr.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Byron Ralston, David Hawkshaw, Cathal Forde, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Carty (c) (JJ Hanrahan ‘61), Colm Reilly (Caolin Blade ‘68); Denis Buckley (Peter Dooley ‘61), Tadgh McElroy (Dylan Tierney-Martin ’50), Finlay Bealham (Sam Illo ‘60); Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce (Niall Murray ‘61); Oisin Dowling (Conor Oliver ‘50), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen (Sean O’Brien ‘40).
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
