PRETORIA – The Bulls powered their way into the United Rugby Championship semi-finals with a ruthless 45-14 demolition of Munster at a sun-drenched Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (30 May), announcing themselves as serious contenders for the title with a performance full of power, pace and moments of genuine brilliance.

From the first whistle, the Pretoria side made their intentions clear, monstering the Irish province in the opening scrums and setting the tone for what would prove to be a thoroughly one-sided affair.

The early dominance up front translated into points almost immediately, as scrumhalf Embrose Papier spotted his opportunity and darted over in just the fifth minute. Handré Pollard added the extras, and the Bulls were up and running.

First-half dominence

The lead was doubled barely three minutes later. Willie le Roux, with his trademark vision and timing, released Kurt-Lee Arendse into open space, and the electrifying winger needed no second invitation, finishing with the kind of clinical precision that has made him one of the most dangerous players in the competition.

To their credit, Munster refused to fold. The Irish province gradually found their footing and clawed their way back into the contest through a brace of converted tries – flanker Jack O’Donoghue forcing his way over from a tap penalty, before centre Alex Nankivell finished smartly to reduce the deficit to just three points at 17-14.

For a moment, the tie was very much in the balance.

But the Bulls, stung by Munster’s resilience, responded in the best possible fashion.

A well-worked attacking lineout created the platform for hooker Johan Grobbelaar to crash over for his ninth try of the season, and Cameron Hanekom – who was in inspired form throughout – crossed the whitewash on the stroke of half-time to extend the lead to 31-14 and effectively kill off the contest before the break.

Not perfect, but effective

The second half was a formality. Munster threw caution to the wind in search of a miracle, but it was the Bulls who profited, with Papier producing the moment of the match in the 54th minute – intercepting a loose pass deep in his own half and racing 80 metres to score unchallenged.

Pollard converted to make it 38-14, and all that remained was a question of the final margin.

Stravino Jacobs supplied the answer, touching down late on to complete a fifth try and confirm an emphatic 45-14 scoreline.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. Johan Ackermann’s side was guilty of overplaying at times, butchering several promising opportunities through careless errors.

But on the evidence of this display, the Bulls look every inch like semi-final contenders – and home advantage could prove decisive.

Source: KickOff.com