One headline proudly declared, “Unruly Bulls annihilate Leinster,” while another confidently stated, “You can’t toy with us at Loftus,” on a South African rugby magazine website, as the native press revelled in the 25-20 triumph of the Bulls over Leinster in the URC semi-final at Loftus Versfeld.
Dylan Jack penned, “Despite being the hosts, the Bulls were considered the underdogs, having been deprived of their three Springbok star players: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, and Marcell Coetzee. Conversely, Leinster was able to present a squad boasting well over 1,000 joint club appearances.”
He then quoted the Bulls’ lead coach, Jake White, who led the 2007 Springboks to World Cup victory and referred to the win as amongst his proudest in club history. “This ranks as one of my most significant victories since I’ve been coaching. I had the good fortune to defeat the British & Irish Lions when I was with the Brumbies.
“However, I would argue that, man-to-man and given the pressure associated with a match of this magnitude, especially with Ireland arriving here in three weeks, this triumph holds additional significance and stands as one of the best club results I’ve attained.
“I can’t say for certain what was mentioned in the media prior to the match, but my hunch is that we caught them off guard slightly. They hadn’t anticipated we would play the way we did. They hadn’t expected us to employ that backline.
“Leinster is highly adept at assessing their opposition, but they couldn’t have prepared for the team we fielded, even I hadn’t foreseen us selecting that squad. I believe we threw Leinster for a loop. I’m certain Jacques [Nienaber] prepared meticulously, as usual. They would have expected to kick contestables.
“They were likely taken aback since we didn’t provide them with that set piece. We made errors on occasion today, but there’s no question we caught them off guard by not offering them the ball they were prepared to attack with.”
In an article on the SuperSport website, journalist Brendan Nel voiced his criticism of the match referee Sam Grove-White. He reported: “The historically tough battleground of Loftus Versfeld didn’t show any mercy for Leinster, as they experienced it harshly at the match held on Saturday. The poor refereeing performance by Sam Grove-White, however, seemed to assist them.”
Despite the Bulls’ display of dominance at various instances, Nel pointed out that Grove-White overlooked incidents of high tackles, late hits and several penalties that should be standard in any typical match. Infuriatingly for Bulls’ fans, Grove-White appeared biased towards Leinster, and at times, coached them to avoid penalties.
Nel remarked, “The match felt as if it was staged in Dublin, not Pretoria, and if this kind of favouritism towards visitor teams persists, it could balance out several future matches.” He further highlighted the declining performance of Leinster, saying that they were “brought down to earth” and the continuous losses in the Investec Champions’ Cup and the mental fatigue in the team seemed increasingly evident for many Irish team members.
Meanwhile, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle triumphed over Toulon with a 34-29 scoreline in a match held at the Stade Felix Mayol. The victory means they will travel again, this time to Bordeaux, for next Friday’s French Top 14 semi-final against Toulouse. To accommodate for France’s European Championship football match against the Netherlands, the semi-final will kick off earlier than usual.
O’Gara confessed that he’d lost his cool in the week leading up to the Toulon match due to disagreements with team members. However, his pride in the team remained resolute despite his temporary displeasure, as he noted they defended the jersey well and showcased solid rugby fundamentals. His focus on Toulouse was sidelined for the moment, as he spoke about the opportunity to spend more quality time with his team.
Our team is seasoned and capable. I hold high admiration for Stade Toulouse, despite us outperforming them in last year’s final for a near-complete 78 minutes. Rugby can be a brutal sport, but through the challenging times we’ve had this season, we’ve remained united. The game is far from simple. While we are proud of our history, my focus lies on the upcoming challenges and the future.
Stade Toulouse is in anticipation to secure both the Champions Cup and French Top 14, as they have already triumphed over Leinster in the European final.
In the words of Cameron Hanekom from the Bulls, who was exceptional in a man-of-the-match performance against Leinster: “Our home ground holds a unique charm that’s hard to articulate. However, it’s a place that we defend fiercely.”
Interesting Statistic: Munster, after having a commendable 6-0 advantage in the first 12 minutes of the game against Glasgow Warriors, ended up conceding a staggering 13 penalties, against a mere five in their favour, in the remaining 68 minutes of the match.