The 42 reports from Loftus Versfeld
Bulls 45
Munster 14
Ken Borland reports from Loftus Versfeld
MUNSTER’S QUARTER-FINAL AGAINST three-time United Rugby Championships finalists the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld at times had the feelings of a mismatch, and the final scoreline of 45-14 to the hosts reflects their dominance.
But an injury-hit Munster side did do themselves some credit as they fought back from a 14-0 deficit to be strongly in the contest as the end of the first half neared.
They may have been physically hurt by the barrage of blue that kept battering them, but they fired some courageous shots of their own as they scored twice to cut the deficit to 14-17 after 33 minutes.
Alex Nankivell was Munster’s outstanding player in the first half, and finished off 24 phases after making the initial slice through the Bulls line after a scrum in his own half, when the Bulls restarted.
But when the outside centre received the kick-off, he was promptly swamped by a wave of blue jerseys, conceding a penalty. The Bulls set the lineout and then the rolling maul, from which hooker Johan Grobbelaar broke clear and swerved past a couple of flat-footed defenders to score.
Five minutes later, Munster conceded another penalty in their 22, this time the Bulls dummied to maul, but instead number eight Cameron Hanekom came around the back and stormed over for the try.
Suddenly the Bulls were 31-14 up at the break and those two soft moments seemed to knock the stuffing out of Munster.
The Bulls scored two more tries in the second half, the first coming from a promising Munster attack. They were inside the Bulls 22 but then just gave the ball away to scrum-half Embrose Papier, who had the pace to run clear and score.
Five minutes later, Munster’s defensive frailties were exposed again as centre Harold Vorster tidied up well after a scrappy lineout, but was allowed to counter-attack too easily, finding lock Ruan Nortje, who loped clear and then returned the ball to Vorster. By then the Bulls were deep in Munster territory, they went wide right and then wide left, where wing Stravino Jacobs showed power and speed in making a beeline straight over for the try.
It was a disappointing end to the season for Munster. Playing at 1pm at altitude at Loftus Versfeld is a daunting prospect, and Munster had to do it without so many of their key players.
The Bulls are also a ferocious scrummaging side and Munster felt the strain in that set-piece from the outset. But some of their defensive work lacked an edge and the Bulls took full advantage of that.
Their first two tries, in the opening eight minutes, came from Papier slipping through a tackle and then buying an outrageous Willie le Roux dummy that allowed the veteran fullback to roar through a gap and feed wing Kurt-Lee Arendse for the try.
Bulls scorers:
Tries – Papier [2], Arendse, Grobbelaar, Hanekom, Jacobs.
Conversions – Pollard [6]
Penalty – Pollard
Munster scorers:
Tries – O’Donoghue, Nankivell
Conversions – JJ Hanrahan [2]
BULLS: Willie le Roux (Sergeal Petersen, 70), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Harold Vorster (Stedman Gans, 59), Stravino Jacobs, Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier (Paul de Wet 57), Gerhard Steenekamp (Jan-Hendrik Wessels 57), Johan Grobbelaar, Francois Klopper (Mornay Smith, 57) Ruan Vermaak (Cobus Wiese, 56), Ruan Nortje, Marcell Coetzee (capt) (Jeandre Rudolph, 56), Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom (Marco van Staden, 62).
MUNSTER: Mike Haley, Andrew Smith (Dan Kelly, 52), Alex Nankivell (Andrew Smith, 76), Sean O’Brien, Shane Daly, JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey (capt), Jeremy Loughman (Josh Wycherley, 59), Niall Scannell (Diarmuid Barron, 32), Michael Ala’alatoa (Conor Bartley, 67), Tom Ahern (Fineen Wycherley, 9), Evan O’Connell, Jack O’Donoghue (Brian Gleeson, 56; Ben O’Donovan, 70), John Hodnett (Alex Kendellen 48), Brian Gleeson (Gavin Coombes, 47).
Written by Ken Borland and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.