Saints punish sloppy Bulls at Loftus Versfeld
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MATCH REPORT: The Bulls' Champions Cup campaign hangs in the balance after they suffered a 21-30 defeat to Northampton Saints in their Round Two clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The result follows the Pretoria side's 5-27 defeat to Saracens in Round One.
The Bulls' performance during the 80 minutes was error-strewn, and they butchered plenty of try-scoring opportunities against the English champions.
They also dominated territory and possession, but they could not convert it into much-needed points.
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The Bulls thought they opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Embrose Papier found Devon Williams with a long pass, giving the wing plenty of space to run in for a try. However, play was brought back for obstruction in the build-up.
After wasting numerous opportunities in the danger zone, the Bulls thought they finally got the first points in the 25th minute when Akker van der Merwe went over the Saints' tryline from a driving maul. But once again obstruction was spotted by the officials.
The Saints suffered a blow in the 30th minute when captain and fullback George Furbank left the field with his arm in a makeshift sling.
After absorbing so much pressure in the first half, the Saints opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Furbank's replacement George Hendy was put into space to score a try. Fin Smith missed the conversion.
However, the Bulls hit back a couple of minutes later when Marcell Coetzee crashed through Northampton's defence in the midfield before sprinting away for a five-pointer.
Goosen added the extra two points to put the Bulls ahead.
The Saints were reduced to 14 men in the 40th minute when Emmanuel Iyogun was yellow-carded for repeated infringements, but the visitors had the last laugh.
After the Bulls butchered a line-out, the Saints showed good hands and interplay before Alex Mitchell put Juarno Augustus into space to score a try just before the break.
Smith converted the score and at half-time, it was 12-7 to the visitors.
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The Bulls dominated the opening stages of the second half and they butchered another try-scoring opportunity in the 52nd minute.
After Goosen found some space behind the Saints' defence with a chip kick, Willie le Roux and Canan Moodie were both in the clear to put some downward pressure on the ball in the in-goal area. However, they got in each other's way and the ball was lost forward.
To rub salt in the Bulls' wounds, the Saints extended their lead to eight points in the 58th minute with a Smith penalty before Tommy Freeman crashed over for a try minutes later after an attacking line-out inside the Bulls' 22.
Smith made it a 15-point lead with the conversion.
However, the Bulls stayed in touch after No.8 Cameron Hanekom showed his pedigree by picking the ball up at the back of a scrum before powering his way to the tryline for a five-pointer.
It was deja vu in the 70th minute when Hanekom slipped through several tackles after a scrum to score his second try of the match.
Goosen converted both tries and with 10 minutes left in the clock, the visitors only had a one-point lead.
The Saints managed to increase their lead to four points in the 73rd minute after a long-range penalty by Smith.
The game was put to bed in the 77th minute when Freeman was put into space down the touchline to sprint in for his side's bonus-point try.
The scorers:
For Bulls:
Tries: Coetzee, Hanekom 2
Cons: Goosen 3
For Northampton:
Tries: Hendy, Augustus, Freeman 2
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 2
Yellow card: Emmanuel Iyogun (Bulls, 40' - repeated infringements)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (captain), 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Kuyenzeka Xaba, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Stedman Gans.
Northampton: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Elliot Millar-Mills, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun.
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Tom Pearson, 22 Archie McParland, 23 George Hendy.
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Jeremy Rozier (France), Adrien Marbot (France)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (France)
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