Bulls player ratings: A Johan Goosen ‘mare’ costs the hosts as ‘mighty’ Springbok forwards shine in URC final defeat
Bulls fly-half Johan Goosen looks on.
Following the Bulls’ 21-16 loss to Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship final on Saturday, here is how we rated Jake White’s charges.
Bulls player ratings v Glasgow Warriors
15 Devon Williams: Huge boots to fill in the final with Willie le Roux missing the clash through injury, but he rose to the occasion. He ignited the counter-attack several times and kicked well out of hand. Ultimately, it was not to be. 7
14 Sergeal Petersen: Tried his utmost but could not produce another match-winning performance. He chased kicks well and defended stoutly, making crucial interventions. 6
13 David Kriel: A stellar season comes to an end in bitter disappointment for the Bok hopeful, who put in a strong showing in the final on both sides of the ball. 6
12 Harold Vorster: A few lapses on defence but none too damaging as he continued to be the glue in the backline, but needed to be a bit more heads-up on attack. 5
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse: Sparked some threatening attacks but wasn’t at his absolute best and cost his side with four penalties conceded. 4
10 Johan Goosen: Some really costly errors from the fly-half as he rolled the dice – sometimes unnecessarily – to push his side over the line. His rushed kick not finding touch was a really decisive point in the game. Good on defence and did kick rather well but his errors outweighed his positive contributions. Ultimately it was a mare from the veteran. 4
9 Embrose Papier: He was fortunate that Arendse was tackled early but often took unnecessary risks and threw a couple of bad passes. It was a far better first half than second and perhaps should have been replaced. 5
Back-five forwards
8 Cameron Hanekom: Not quite the heroic effort that he produced against Leinster, but that was always going to be difficult to back up. Still, it was a powerful performance with the ball in hand and he was hugely influential on defence, making 11 tackles and a turnover. 6
7 Elrigh Louw: His fumble from the restart gifted the visitors a route back into the game, and from there, Glasgow were ruthless. That was an aberration in his overall performance as he starred with ball in hand and on defence. 7
6 Marco van Staden: Mammoth performance from the brilliant back-row who crossed the whitewash, tackled strongly and was a pest at the breakdown. He was unlucky to be on the losing side. 8
5 Ruan Nortje (c): Ran the Bulls‘ lineout effectively and was up to his usual tricks with a mighty shift on defence and at the breakdown. He put up a strong fight but his efforts were in vain. A Springbok recall surely awaits him. 6
4 Ruan Vermaak: Like his second-row partner, he was abrasive on defence and was a wilful ball carrier. 5
Front-row
3 Wilco Louw: Powerful in the scrums yet again while he contributed wilfully around the park too. Really pushing the letter for a Springbok recall in a congested department. Another who deserved to be on the winning side for his individual shift. 7
2 Johan Grobbelaar: There were fears that he would miss the final through injury, but he recovered in time and was simply sensational, coming up in the clutch with two crucial penalties, hammered into 14 tackles and sound at the set-pieces. 8
1 Gerhard Steenekamp: Got the upper hand in the scrums for much of the match outside of a slip and racked up a mighty defensive shift. Bound to earn a recall to the Springbok squad. 7
Replacements: While White has built much-needed depth, it was not enough when it mattered, as the bench failed to provide the impact when it was needed, and the director of rugby’s decision not to make any backline replacements hurt the Bulls. 3
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