Dragons v Bulls: Five takeaways as Eskom ‘knocks the lights out’ along with brutal Springboks-esque Bomb Squad to strengthen play-off bid
Bulls forward Marco van Staden (INPHO/Ryan Byrne/EPCR) and Dragons fly-half Tinus de Beer (INPHO/Geraint Nicholas/EPCR).
Following the Bulls’ 47-7 victory over Dragons RFC, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship clash.
The top line
A nitty-gritty encounter in Newport as the Bulls used their traditional grunt, power, and tactical kicking game to get the better of a Dragons team growing in confidence.
It was hardly a first half filled with heart-stopping, end-to-end rugby as the two sides headed into the break separated by just five points as the visitors scored through Embrose Papier and Johan Grobbelaar with Dragons centre Fine Inisi splitting the tries.
However, the Springboks-laden Bulls took control of the fixture in the second half and muscled their way to an emphatic scoreline, even if the performance wasn’t overly compelling. Captain and Player of the Match Marcell Coetzee got the scoreboard rolling in early in the second half before Marco van Staden came off the bench to grab a brace to ensure it was a full house of points before birthday boy Devon Williams added to the Dragons’ misery.
Sergeal Petersen completed the romp, crossing in his first appearance since January.
Bulls pack powers Johann Ackermann’s charges to victory
This was the first of four hurdles for the Bulls as they continue their late bid for a place in the last eight, having squarely put their torrid run of consecutive defeats behind them, and while the final scoreline suggests a thrashing, the men from Pretoria were made to work hard for their five points in Newport.
Despite all the pressure the Bulls put the Dragons under, the Welsh outfit repeatedly repelled their attack with last-ditch defence, forcing errors while the visitors often pulled the trigger on the extravagant play when it was just not on.
Johan Ackermann is clearly trying to get the Bulls to play a more expansive style of play since bringing in Neil de Bruin but those structures are taking some time to bed in. Luckily for the Pretorians, plan A still works rather well with the pack largely getting the job done today with Papier’s try coming off the back of a truly brutal scrummaging effort with Wales international Wyn Jones folding under the sheer force of Francois Klopper.
The scrum-half has been in lethal try-scoring form, and when such an easy opportunity arose to score his ninth five-pointer of the season, he was never going to waste it. After the Dragons responded, it was the pack that delivered the counter punch again as Grobbelaar muscled over.
Coetzee’s try and Van Staden’s brace followed a similar theme of the Bulls’ kicking game and the Dragons’ ill-discipline got the visitors into the right areas of the pitch with the pack doing the rest, whilst producing a strong performance in the lineout and a dominant one at scrum time.
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Dragons continue to show signs of improvement
On paper, the Dragons were massive underdogs, having won just two of their 15 URC matches so far this season, and were fronting up against a Bulls team boasting 10 Springboks in their starting line-up alone.
However, Filo Tiatia’s side played with a swagger and grunt that has been seen sparingly in recent times, and much of that has to do with the team’s progression into the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
That emotional driver was perhaps what kept them in the fixture for the first 40 minutes as they trailed by just five points, and it could well have been all square at the break had the ball bounced their way in the final knockings of the half.
Jared Rosser’s disallowed try, however, was possibly the final straw as from that point, it looked as if the Dragons players’ heads had dropped and they simply didn’t have the depth or momentum to stop the Bulls’ rampage.
Still, their efforts were commendable with standout performances from the likes of Harrison Keddie, Inisi and Rosser in particular.
Eskom knocks the lights out as the Bomb Squad explodes
The term ‘slow poison’ was synonymous with the Springboks, particularly when Jacques Nienaber was head coach, as the starters effectively drained the energy out of the opposition, particularly up front, before the bench came on to finish the job.
And the Bulls followed a similar script today as they continuously battered away at the Dragons’ defensive line, dominated in the scrums, and waited for the slow poison to take effect. The likes of Cameron Hanekom, who has been superb on his return, Ruan Nortje, Coetzee and the starting front-row all set the tone from the onset and then the well-timed substitutions pounced to take control of the encounter.
In the 53rd minute, Ackermann changed the entire starting front-row, and it had an immediate impact, with Van Staden, playing at hooker, scoring his first try almost immediately. The man affectionally known as ‘Eskom’ doubled his tally as we entered the final 10 minutes of the game and where the Bulls really made the most of their dominance, scoring twice more.
The Bulls’ starting pack performance was matched by those off the bench and the Dragons simply couldn’t keep up with the pace, intensity and physicality in the final quarter as the visitors pulled away on the scoreboard.
It wasn’t just the forwards though, as Willie le Roux gave the side more attacking direction when he entered the fray, Petersen impressed on the wing after replacing the excellent Canan Moodie at half time, whilst Papier shifted seamlessly into a roaming backs position when Paul de Wet came on at scrum-half.
Looking ahead
The Dragons’ main focus will be on their Challenge Cup semi-final against Montpellier on May 3, as they have no chance of cracking the URC knockout place. But before then, they have another clash against Zebre, who they beat in the quarter-finals of the EPCR tournament.
Their final home game of the season will be against Edinburgh and their final league match against the Welsh rivals, the Scarlets. The Challenge Cup will be the biggest target for the Dragons going forward but Tiatia will be demanding improvements in the coming weeks with the opportunity to finish in a higher position on the URC standings.
They currently sit 15th overall but are level on points with the likes of Edinburgh and Scarlets.
As for the Bulls, they are well-placed to cement a URC knockout stages with today’s win moving them up to fifth position for the time being. They play their final away game against the Scarlets next weekend before returning to Loftus to host Zebre and Benetton, with both Italian clubs all-but out of the running for a place in the play-offs.
Just 10 points separate league leaders Glasgow, who have a game in hand, and the Bulls, who should be targeting a full house of points in the coming weeks. If they are able to do so, a home quarter-final and perhaps even a semi-final could be on the cards, depending on results elsewhere in the league, a prospect few would have believed to be possible in December.
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