Connacht gored by ruthless Bulls at Loftus Versfeld
BKT United Rugby Championship, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa 25/11/2023
Connacht were left licking their wounds after the Bulls ruthlessly cut through them and punished a string of errors at Loftus Versfeld.
Pete Wilkins’ men would have fancied their chances of notching the second win of their South African tour by scoring 27 points against the Bulls, but it was never going to be enough in an error-strewn performance.
And they left empty-handed when their display at altitude was summed up in the final play as they came in search of a bonus point, having crossed for their third try after 78 minutes.
But with a penalty advantage in the bag, Italian referee Gianluca Gnecchi took issue with something which was said to him by a Connacht player and reversed the penalty, leaving them with a lot to ponder on the long journey home as they prepare to face Leinster next weekend.
The Bulls had the bonus point in the bag by the break after ruthlessly punished sloppy mistakes by a Connacht side who struggled in the heat at altitude.
An early exchange of penalties from Jack Carty and Jaco van der Walt was followed by the Bulls hitting for two tries, the first after Carty kicked long and direct to touch from his own half after 12 minutes and then eight minutes when scrum-half Colm Reilly knocked on from a lineout inside their own half.
They were made pay on both occasions with hooker Akker van der Merwe scoring down the right after four passes off scrum, while flanker Wilco Louw punished sloppy defending when he made the most of no pillar a ruck to skip over from close range.
The conversion pushed them 15-3 in front at the end of the opening quarter and they could have been further clear had they punished another failed Connacht lineout inside their own half and a kick direct to touch from Byron Ralston which gave the Bulls good field possession from 35 metres. They extended their lead several phases later with a penalty from van der Walt.
Carty pulled back a penalty nine minutes from time on a rare visit to the Bulls red zone but from the restart the South Africans struck again when scrum-half Zak Burger stepped inside debutant No8. Sean Jansen and set up his captain Ruan Nortje for an easy try.
Connacht were given a lifeline when David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde combined to send winger Diarmuid Kilgallen over for a fine try in the left corner which Carty converted from the touchline to cut the gap to 23-13, but the Bulls hit again before the break when Springbok World Cup Willie le Roux crowned his debut for Bulls when he netted the bonus point after the Connacht rearguard was again shredded.
Connacht, having started the second half with over three minutes of surges, got a break when a counterattack try from Burger was disallowed and hooker van der Merwe was binned for a hand on Reilly at the back of a ruck. Connacht made the most of the break with hooker Tadhg McElroy scoring a few phases after going to the left corner.
Carty converted to cut the gap to 32-20 but that was as close as they got. Replacement Conor Oliver was binned for offside just as the Bulls went back to 15 and they pulled away with No.8 Nizaam Carr, centre David Kriel and replacement out-half Chris Smith took them past the 50-point mark.
Shamus Hurley-Langton got over from a tapped penalty after 78 minutes as Connacht then pressed for a try bonus point but in the final play their hopes ended when they were pinged for apparent dissent.
Tries: A van der Merwe, W Louw, R Nortje, W le Roux, D Kriel, N Carr, C Smith. Cons: J van der Walt (5). Pens: van der Walt (2).
Tries: D Kilgallen, T McElroy, S Hurley-Langton. Cons: J Carty (2), JJ Hanrahan. Pens: Carty (2).
W le Roux; S de Klerk, S Gans (C Moodie, 58), D Kriel, S Petersen; J van der Walt (C Smith, 71), Z Burger (E Papier, 56); G Steenekamp (S Matanzima, 56), A van der Merwe (JH Wessels, 34-40), W Louw (M Smith, 57); R Ludwig, R Nortje (c) (J Swanepoel, 45); M van Staden (Wessels 48-55, E Louw (C Brink, 67), N Carr.
T O’Halloran; B Ralston, D Hawkshaw, C Forde, D Kilgallen; J Carty (c) (JJ Hanrahan, 61), C Reilly (C Blade, 68); D Buckley (P Dooley, 61), T McElroy (D Tierney-Martin, 50), F Bealham (Sam Illo ‘60); Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce (Niall Murray ‘61); Oisin Dowling (Conor Oliver ‘50), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen (Sean O'Brien ‘40).
Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
