Cape Town - While the Bulls have won three Super Rugby titles previously, Friday night’s 27-26 United Rugby Championship semi-final victory over Leinster in Dublin will rank right up there in their history.
Here’s how we rated the Bulls players at the RDS Arena…
Canan Moodie: 7
Bulls fans would not have forgiven him for THAT ‘no try’ incident if their team hadn’t won in the end – he just needed to put the ball down, so that loses him a point. But other than that, the 19-year-old from Paarl was excellent. He fielded the high ball with aplomb, ran a few good lines on attack, and tackled ferociously.
David Kriel: 6
Was at fault, along with Madosh Tambwe, for the first Leinster try as he was unable to deal with a loose ball close to the Bulls line. He had a couple of solid runs in the first half, but had to leave the field after taking a knock to the head in an attempted tackle on Robbie Henshaw, where he made contact with the Leinster centre’s hip.
Cornal Hendricks: 7
The veteran midfielder didn’t have many opportunities with ball-in-hand on attack, but defended heroically against the hard-running Leinster pair of Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose.
Harold Vorster: 7
Made a few powerful surges at close quarters on attack, although didn’t have the space he normally gets to operate in. Defended solidly as well.
Vodacom Bulls beat Leinster 27-26 and progress to the Final of the @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/LT5c7I86gX
Madosh Tambwe: 6
Was at fault, along with David Kriel, for the first Leinster try as he didn’t deal with a loose ball close to the Bulls line. Fielded the high ball well. Had one run where he conceded a penalty for making contact with Ruan Nortje, and he tried hard to find gaps by running in-field at times. But he was closely marked and didn’t make the impact he usually does.
Chris Smith: 7
The pivot kept his team moving forward with the boot, and with the Bulls trying to break down the Leinster defence up the middle, he was happy to let the pack get stuck in. Kicked well to the posts, especially that first penalty on the angle.
Zak Burger: 8
This was perhaps Burger’s finest performance for the Bulls. His box-kicks were largely on point, which allowed Tambwe and later Moodie to contest the ball in the air, while he kept the attack going with slick passing from the base. The way he picked up a bouncing ball to put Marcell Coetzee over for the second try was a classy piece of play.
Elrigh Louw: 8
This was the real Elrigh Louw that we all know. He was immense in carrying the ball up around the fringes, and despite his big frame, he used some fancy footwork to get close to the tryline on occasions. Great physicality in defence too.
Arno Botha: 7
The experienced flank added to the physical onslaught that overwhelmed Leinster at times as he carried strongly, cleaned-out rucks and put in big hits at close quarters.
Marcell Coetzee (captain): 9
If ever someone wanted to make a statement to the Springbok selectors, the Bulls captain did it on this occasion. Not only was Coetzee as physical as ever, the way he managed to spin out of tackles when carrying the ball up made things difficult for the home side. He kept the belief going that the Bulls could actually beat Leinster in Dublin, and he saw the job through to the end.
Ruan Nortje: 7
The Bulls No 5 wasn’t as industrious on attack as he normally is, but that doesn’t take away from yet another solid outing. He was secure on the Bulls lineout throw-ins, won one from Leinster, and hit the rucks to slow Leinster’s ball down.
CLUTCH 😤@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/nApSKsQ88P
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) June 11, 2022
Walt Steenkamp: 8
This was Steenkamp’s best display in a Bulls jersey. He won quite a few Leinster lineouts, and put in some big hits in defence and carried the ball with great intensity.
Mornay Smith: 7
Was unlucky to concede a penalty at the very first scrum, as it was actually Andrew Porter who had gone down. But Smith wasn’t overawed by his Irish Test opponent, and ensured that the Bulls had a solid set-piece to work from.
Johan Grobbelaar: 9
The Bulls hooker was outstanding all around the field. He found his lineout jumpers on most occasions, was a willing ball-carrier and scored a try. But it was his breakdown work that stood out as he won a number of penalties and virtually stopped Leinster from playing.
Gerhard Steenekamp: 7
The Bulls loosehead is a big man and made his presence felt at close quarters by hitting rucks, while he didn’t take a backward step in the scrums against the highly-rated Irish tighthead Tadhg Furlong.
FINALS BOUND 🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆 pic.twitter.com/35DiNbcFfl
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) June 10, 2022
Best of the Bench:
Janko Swanepoel: 8
The young lock has had to play behind the more experienced Nortje and Steenkamp this season, but showed why he can be a regular starter as well by pinching a few crucial Leinster lineout throw-ins.
Morné Steyn: 8
Considering the pressure that he was under and the change in weather conditions in the second half, the veteran Bulls flyhalf’s penalty from quite a distance proved to be a match-winning kick in the end.
Kurt-Lee Arendse: 8
Had to replace the injured David Kriel in the first half, and went straight to fullback, with Canan Moodie shifting to right wing, and it looked like Arendse had never been away from the team. He put in one electric run from his own tryline that left the Leinster defence for dead, and wasn’t shy to look for space for his teammates either.
IOL Sport