It was a helter-skelter afternoon at Ellis Park where the action was as hot as the weather, and that is why Jake White praised his Bulls team for their character in adversity in beating the Lions 35-22 in their United Rugby Championship derby on Saturday.
The Bulls trailed 11-10 in the first half and 17-13 in the second half, but a Willie le Roux-inspired bench saw them secure a bonus-point victory in the end to record their sixth URC win from eight matches.
They had to deal with immense adversity at the start of each half, with co-captain and Springbok lock Ruan Nortjé going off after five minutes with a knee injury, and then fellow skipper Elrigh Louw also forced from the pitch after his left leg got stuck under itself in a tackle.
Emirates Airline Park wishes Elrigh Louw a speedy recovery after a nasty injury 👇👇
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/bM45AmBIgc
White said after the match that Louw had been taken to hospital already, which indicated that his injury was serious, while Nortjé was still with the team and would be going for scans later.
But despite those disruptions, the Bulls pulled together to put on a scintillating show in the second half to hold off a concerted fight-back from the Lions.
Springbok fullback Le Roux’s introduction after 51 minutes – at flyhalf, in place of Boeta Chamberlain – sparked the Bulls into life as the visitors suddenly found their rhythm with ball-in-hand.
That was not to say that they didn’t have a full go up to that point, and they made serious inroads into the Lions defence through the efforts of outstanding No 8 Cameron Hanekom, fullback Devon Williams and a powerful pack, especially in the scrums.
But Le Roux’s magical touches saw the visitors go into beast mode in the second half, and they ended a titanic contest with the fourth try from replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe in the 70th minute.
“I’m really proud. All the disruptions... You lose two captains, one guy with the HIA, another guy off with blood... There were so many things that were happening, and you can imagine after they scored that try (to make it 23-22), some teams would’ve thought ‘That’s it: we are not going to get over the line today’,” White said in the post-match press conference.
“But not only did we get over the line, we ended up getting a bonus point at Ellis Park as well, which says a lot about the character of this team. So, really, really proud.
Steenekamp ➡️ Chamberlain ➡️ Petersen ➡️ Kriel = Are you kidding me? 🤯🐃#BKTURC #URC | #LIOvBUL pic.twitter.com/mRi0jXPXw1
“It’s one of those frustrating things when you get into the change-room after the first half, and you can’t understand how you are down.
“That is something we speak about a lot. But one of the things we did say before the game is that we needed our bench to be really strong today – accuracy, etc, etc.
“That’s probably the best (manner in which) we finished a game in the last two or three seasons. The bench understood that this was a game that they needed to make an impact and be accurate, and it was going from losing the game to getting a bonus-point win. It means a lot to the team.”
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen bemoaned a few crucial second-half mistakes that proved costly in the end.
Henco van Wyk bulldozes his way over for the Emirates Lions 🦁💣
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 25, 2025
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/XOUWPZPJNc
“Disappointing. At one stage in the second half, we felt that we managed to turn the momentum when we scored and were ahead,” he said.
“Frustrating errors from our side – two kick-offs... We stopped for a moment when we thought the ball was going to go out directly, and they tapped it in.
“That almost put us under pressure to try to play differently. So, we were good enough for some stages, but it’s not (good enough) yet.
“It’s obviously difficult to speed up learning against 205 Bok caps – Willie (le Roux) and Canan (Moodie) made a big difference.
“Some parts of the plan we executed well today, and others not.”
The Bulls will next be in action against the Stormers in Cape Town on February 8, while the Lions will enjoy a lengthy break and return to the pitch on February 15 – also against the Stormers, but in Johannesburg. | Independent Media Sport
Points-Scorers
Lions 22 – Tries: Henco van Wyk, Etienne Oosthuizen. Penalties: Sam Francis (4).
Bulls 35 – Tries: David Kriel, Cobus Wiese, Marcell Coetzee, Akker van der Merwe. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (1), Kriel (2). Penalties: Chamberlain (2), Kriel (1).