Bulls put Sharks to the sword

The Bulls’ polished 44-10 dismantling of the Sharks provided two inescapable conclusions — Jake White’s men are going to take some stopping in this competition, notably in Pretoria, and the Durban-based side’s journey under John Plumtree has miles to go.

The New Zealander said midweek that whatever transpired at Loftus Versfeld would not define his team as they work towards the style of play he envisages for them, an all-out attacking game not dissimilar to the All Blacks.

But the big Kiwi also said that the game would be won by the forward pack that generated momentum for their backline, especially because both sides were fielding highly dangerous backs.

The Bulls won this department hands down. The Sharks’ set-piece creaked all afternoon and a stand-out difference between the sides was the big ball carriers in blue who repeatedly made inroads to set up attacks for the backs.

The United Rugby Championship game was won and lost in a 30-minute purple patch in the first half in which the Bulls played with a blistering intensity that harvested four tries and 27 points. In that period, the Sharks could not live with their opposition and were outclassed.

The Sharks had enjoyed an excellent start, with Jaden Hendrikse engineering a breakout from his 22 by chipping over the top and gathering. The move stopped a few metres from the line but a penalty was secured for Curwin Bosch to kick the first points of the game.

But this was undone when the Sharks again got close to the Bulls’ line only for hooker Fez Mbatha to overcook his lineout throw. The Bulls gratefully caught the throw and counter-attacked and appeared to score at the other end but it was cancelled because the scrumhalf was in front of the kicker.

That resulted in a penalty for Bosch to almost nail from 55m. The ball grazed the outside of an upright and from the restart, Bosch fielded a long ball but was caught in possession and Johan Goosen nailed the penalty.