Bulls sweating over World Cup winning Bok’s injury
The Bulls are counting the cost of their humbling 14-47 loss to Leinster in a United Rugby Championship outing at the RDS Arena in Dublin this past Friday.
The Bulls are counting the cost of their humbling 14-47 loss to Leinster in a United Rugby Championship…
The Irish powerhouse, Leinster, made a serious statement of intent with the comprehensive win.
The game was billed as the tournament’s No.1 (Leinster) against No.2 (Bulls).
However, after a competitive first half – with the visitors leading 14-12 at the break – the hosts turned the second half into a one-horse race.
Five unanswered tries saw the Irish province race clear and put daylight between then and their nearest rivals on the standings.
Leinster (54 points) are at least two wins ahead of the Bulls (45) – who are unlikely to keep their second place as the rest of Round 13 plays out.
United Rugby Championship
To make matters worse, the Bulls suffered a potentially serious setback ahead of next week’s Round of 16 face-off against Olympique Universitaire in Pretoria.
At the end of the first quarter in Dublin on Friday, World Cup-winning Springbok was replaced by Mpilo Gumede.
“It is something we have to look at – how we will get to where we need to get to, to compete with these top sides every week,” he added.
Jack Conan was one of five second-half try scorers for Leinster in a dominant win.
This top-of-the-table clash was of Test match quality at times, with Leo Cullen’s men now nine points clear at the summit.
Johan Goosen impressed with three penalties and a try assist as the Bulls led 14-12 at half-time.
Leinster captain was sin-binned for a high tackle on try scorer Kurt-Lee Arendse.
However, having touched down initially through Josh van der Flier and the home side secured their bonus point by the 48th minute.
James Lowe and replacement did the damage, with Conan and adding further tries past the hour mark.
