Bulls blow it in Hamilton

The Vodacom Bulls twice led by 14 points in
New Zealand, but ultimately were their own
worst enemies as they succumbed 41-28 to the
Chiefs in their Vodacom Super Rugby match in
Hamilton on Friday.
The Bulls stunned the Chiefs with some beautiful
tries and played more like a New Zealand side
than their traditional selves, but ultimately were
their own undoing as they ran out of steam and
the scoreline ballooned late in the game to
flatter the home side.
But the Chiefs were ultimately lucky as they got
the rub of the green and were given extremely
lenient treatment by referee Shuhei Kubo, who
struggled to keep up with the game and will need
to up his game if he is to continue to referee at
this level.
Kubo unfortunately perpetuated the stereotype of
New Zealand sides getting away with murder on
their own line, as the Chiefs conceded nine
penalties – several in their red zone – on
defence and first received an explanation, then a
warning and then a second warning in the
second half without receiving a card.
The Chiefs were lucky to see a brilliant try
disallowed by Handre Pollard for obstruction,
when replays showed that it was unlikely that
Brodie Retallick would get to a flying Warrick
Gelant. Nevertheless, it was a hometown
decision that seemed to take the wind out of the
sails of the Bulls at a crucial time in the game.
The officials also were lenient with the Bulls,
when Conraad van Vuuren hit Damian McKenzie
late with a swinging arm to the head. While it
looked like a certain red, the TMO downgraded it
to a yellow, and saved Van Vuuren the ignominy
of a disciplinary hearing afterwards.
In the end though the Bulls ran out of steam and
were still in the game despite all of the above,
until they conceded two late tries that saw the
Chiefs pull away quite easily in the end.
But despite all of this, there were signs of
brilliance, and the attack was a wonder to see as
the Springboks Warrick Gelant, Handre Pollard
and Jesse Kriel all put in exceptionally good
cameos to underline their class. Embrose Papier
was good after replacing Andre Warner in the
first half and up front the lock duo of Lood de
Jager and RG Snyman looked good, while
Thembelani Bholi put in another feisty
performance.
The Bulls stunned the Chiefs early on with an
exceptional try, as Jesse Kriel put in a perfect
inside ball for a flying Travis Ismaiel, who put
Gelant over in the corner.
A mistake on defence, as Ismaiel failed to gather
a grubber, allowed the ball to spill loose, and
Johnny Fa’auli picked up to level the scores.
Every time it looked as if the Chiefs were getting
the ascendancy, the Bulls hit hard. Divan
Rossouw scored twice – the first a dive in at the
corner and then after Kriel cut open the defence
to send him away for his second.
Brodie Retallick scored the first of his two tries
with a drive over from close range, but the Bulls
counter-punched two minutes from the end of
the first half as Papier burst through , linked up
with Kriel and passed inside to send Pollard over
for a 28-14 halftime scoreline.
The Chiefs came out firing in the second half,
grinding their way over the line through Mitchell
Brown and then when they scored against the
run of play after the Bulls had camped on their
line for a full 10 minutes, with Retallick getting
his second of the day.
The turning point came in the 58th minute, when
Warrick Gelant burst through and Papier scored,
but the referee called for replays and disallowed
the try for blocking. It was a decision that
changed the game and three minutes later
Damian McKenzie drilled home a penalty to give
the Chiefs the lead for the first time in the
game.
Van Vuuren’s moment of madness came six
minutes later and it seemed the Bulls were
losing the plot, with Solomona Alaimalo scoring
as the game wound down to give the home side
a big advantage.
With the Bulls desperately trying to get out of
their own half, they spilled the ball and Anton
Lienert-Brown picked up and scored, taking away
their losing bonus point in the process.
The Bulls now head to Christchurch to take on
the Crusaders.
SCORERS:
Chiefs 41
Tries: Johnny Fa'auli, Brodie Retallick (2),
Mitchell Brown, Solomon Alaimano, Anton
Lienert-Brown
Conversions: Damian McKenzie (3)
Penalty: McKenzie
Vodacom Bulls 28
Tries: Warrick Gelant, Divan Rossouw (2), Handre
Pollard
Conversions: Handre Pollard (4)