Scarlets’ Joe Roberts is tackled by Bulls’ Harold Vorster and Chris Smith. (Photo by Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans/Gallo Images)
The Bulls snapped from a 20-point deficit, came within two points of leveling the score, but fell 37-28 to the Scarlets in Llanelli, Wales on Friday night.
It was a heart-pounding, if sometimes error-ridden game of the United Rugby Championship serving up four tries each and plenty of entertainment, especially if you were wearing red at Parc and Scarlets.
The Bulls got off to a confident start to the game when they crossed the try line first through scrum-half Zak Burger with five minutes left on the clock.
SUMMARY | scarlets vs bulls
But the Scarlets soon showed that they weren’t prepared to be outdone in front of their partisan crowd.
Flanker Dan Davis got the home team’s first touchdown, which appeared to have popped over the line, but TMO found no double move.
Johan Goosen and Zak Burguer. (Photo by Gruffydd Thomas/Huw Evans/Gallo Images)
Soon after, prop Kemsley Mathias struck again for the Scarlets, who were using the momentum of the crowd to unsettle the Bulls and it worked.
The Bulls, now dragged into a melee, decided to play the open, unstructured game that the Scarlets clearly favored on the night and created a glorious opening for Ruan Vermaak to run up the middle.
But the forward, who made a brilliant straight run to find space, lacked a basic pass that would have put Burger on his second down.
Davis opened up for the Bulls, breaking the line and digging in before unloading. The Scarlets kicked out and scrum half Gareth Davies collected the ball with nothing but vacant Bulls ground in front of him.
The Scarlets suffered a major blow to their momentum when, on 34 minutes, they lost Joe Roberts in the sin bin after the outside center was caught in the ruck, preventing a Bulls attack.
Winger Stravino Jacobs capitalized immediately, scoring into the left corner after fielding a Johan Goosen cross to score. After the conversion, the Bulls cut the 20-point deficit to 13 points at 27-14, the halftime score.
Fourteen minutes into the second half, the Bulls scored again when Cyle Brink came over the line following a 10-phase move inside the Scarlets 22.
The Bulls had the Scarlets on the ropes, who were struggling to maintain their dwindling lead.
Five minutes after Brink, backup prop Simphiwe Matanzima used his body as an instrument of destruction to score the Bulls’ fourth try. That put them within two points of the hosts at 30-28 with just under 20 minutes to go.
From there, despair began on both teams. The Bulls attack became more erratic than usual and the Scarlets rushed to defense, resulting in a scrappy ending to the game.
Parc and Scarlets erupted when fullback Johnny McNicholl scored the game-deciding try with less than four minutes remaining, which, after the conversion, left the Bulls with nine points to go, an improbable task that proved too much for the visitors.
Goalscorers:
scarlet 37 (27)
Attempts: Dan Davis, Kemsley Mathias, Gareth Davies, Johnny McNicholl
Conversions: Sam Castelow (3), Dan Jones
Penalties: Sam Castelow (3)
Bulls 28 (14)
Attempts: Zak Burger, Stravino Jacobs, Cyle Brink, Simphiwe Matanzima
Conversion: Chris Smith (4)
