Adriaan Strauss scored a hat-trick as the Bulls beat the Stormers 33-23 at Loftus on Saturday.SIMON BORCHARDT reports.
The former Springbok hooker set a new South African record when he earned his 149th Super Rugby cap. And he marked it in style with three tries, having scored just 14 in his previous 148 appearances.
The four log points picked up by the Bulls lifts them off the bottom of the South African conference, above the Jaguares, and keeps their quarter-final hopes alive. For the Stormers, it is a step backwards after wins against the Blues and Reds at Newlands.
The Bulls were forced to make two late changes to their starting XV, with Travis Ismaiel (back strain) and Tim Agaba (tonsillitis) being ruled out of the match. That saw Hanro Liebenberg move from the second row back to No 8, with lock Hendré Stassen coming in. Johnny Kötze replaced Ismaiel on the right wing.
Despite the disruption, the Bulls pack made an early statement when they won a penalty at the first scrum. The hosts kicked for touch, were awarded a penalty that was quick-tapped and then won another that was again kicked for touch.
Yet another penalty resulted in a lineout and this time the Bulls made it count, with Strauss going over for a try. Handré Pollard nailed the conversion.
The Bulls turned down another shot at goal soon after, but that gamble backfired as the lineout was lost.
Damien Willemse then slotted a penalty for the Stormers, only for Damian de Allende to be yellow-carded for a ruck infringement in their red zone. The Bulls kicked for touch, and Strauss was driven over for his second to make it 12-3 after 17 minutes.
Willemse clawed three points back for the visitors, who then lost flank Cobus Wiese to what appeared to be a leg injury.
The Bulls hit back with their third try, on the half-hour mark, when a brilliant one-handed offload from Pollard put Kötze away for a converted try and a 19-6 lead.
But it was the Stormers who finished the half strongly, scoring two tries in the last three minutes.
Their scrum won a penalty on halfway that ultimately led to a try to Kobus van Dyk, who had replaced Wiese (it did, however, look as if Pieter-Steph du Toit had lost possession while attempting to ground the ball on the line, with Van Dyk then playing it from an offside position).
Soon after, Van Dyk offloaded to De Allende, who chased down his chip kick to score under the posts and reduce the deficit to just one at the break.
The Stormers received their second yellow card of the match early in the second half. Du Toit, who was part of a maul, accidentally stepped on the head of a Bulls player lying on the ground and was harshly sent to the sin bin.
Du Toit’s absence was felt a couple of minutes later when a woeful Stormers lineout gifted Strauss his hat-trick try. Pollard’s conversion gave the Bulls a 26-18 lead.
No sooner had the Bulls been restored to 15 men that Willemse missed a relatively easy penalty-goal attempt.
But the Stormers did add to their tally in the 66th minute when a sustained attack was finished off by Siya Kolisi in the left-hand corner. Willemse’s conversion was off-target to leave his team trailing by three.
The Bulls responded almost immediately when replacement Roelof Smit’s one-handed offload in the tackle put Jesse Kriel away for their fifth try.
Pollard kicked the conversion and while his 55m penalty attempt, with five minutes remaining, went wide, the Bulls were able to see out the game and secure the win.
Bulls – Tries: Adriaan Strauss (3), Johnny Kötze, Jesse Kriel. Conversions: Handré Pollard (4).
Stormers – Tries: Kobus van Dyk, Damian De Allende, Siya Kolisi. Conversion: Damian Willemse. Penalties: Willemse (2).
Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kötze, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Hendré Stassen, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Frans van Wyk, 18 Lizo Gqoboka, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Duncan Matthews.
Stormers – 15 SP Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Kobus van Dyk, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Jano Vermaak, 23 Craig Barry.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
